00:00:01
[music] All rise. >> Joy answering. >> Please proceed. >> Kill or be killed. [music]
00:00:15
Kill or be killed. Kill or be killed. The defense calls as its first witness. Virginia Vertitis.
00:00:35
>> This was a case about a woman who shot and killed the person attacking her, Patrick Gilhouie.
00:00:43
>> Prosecutor's position is my client murdered Gili in cold blood. They were the only two people in that
00:00:55
house [snorts] that night. One of them is dead and one of them is on trial for his murder.
00:01:02
>> 911. Where's your emergency? >> Somebody was breaking into my house. >> Police arrive on scene at 10:07.
00:01:08
>> I didn't know who was coming in my house. Everything's dead. >> I'm dead. >> They see Patrick laying there
00:01:15
motionless. Dead. >> Is there anybody else in the house? >> Who else in the house?
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>> I live alone. >> Who else is here? >> They see the gun, the 38 caliber. She was immediately handcuffed,
00:01:29
then placed into a patrol car. [laughter] >> This defendant tried to orchestrate a
00:01:36
story to make herself look like a victim. She calls 911 and she lies. So, what happened? We have to know who
00:01:49
these people are. Who was Patrick Gilholi? Who is Virginia Bertitus? [music] >> I know Virginia Vertitis. I've spent
00:02:03
hundreds of hours with her. She had a highpaying corporate job. She gave it up and went to teaching. All the parents
00:02:12
would ask for her because she was such a great teacher, a loving mother, loving daughter.
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[music] To me, she got mixed up with the wrong man. [music] This is a guy that retired as a police
00:02:29
officer, was working on security for construction sites. Everybody loved this guy. Everybody
00:02:36
loved this guy. He beat the hell out of her. He choked her. He looked her straight in
00:02:44
the eyes and said he was going to kill her. Why did [laughter] he have to throw me like that?
00:02:52
Look at the evidence. I have this woman's life in my hands. >> This is the moment of truth.
00:03:01
Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Well, see whether the defendant was telling the truth. [laughter]
00:03:08
>> Why did you kill him? >> Because he was going to kill me. Heat. Heat. [music]
00:03:26
>> [music] >> I'm like jumping out of my skin. [snorts] Someone's life is in my hands.
00:03:53
>> This case is a monster. It's a tremendous weight on on my shoulder. >> Just want this to start.
00:04:00
>> Defense attorneys Ed Bolinkis and Sarah Mardell are on edge as Virginia's murder
00:04:07
trial begins. >> I can't sleep anymore. I'm literally bouncing off the walls. If I lose,
00:04:15
she'll spend the rest of her life in jail. >> It's been 3 years since Patrick Ghoulie
00:04:20
was shot to death in Virginia's home in Mount Olive, New Jersey. My client is not guilty. She killed Patrick Gilhulie
00:04:30
in selfdefense. >> But it won't be easy for Belinkas to prove that. >> It's a difficult case. There's a lot of
00:04:37
things that we need to address. >> 911, where's your emergency? >> Starting with Virginia's 911 call.
00:04:44
>> Somebody was breaking out of my head. >> One of the biggest challenges for the
00:04:48
defense is what Virginia said on that call. >> She makes up a story. She lies. >> I didn't know who was coming in my
00:04:55
house. I was in bed. >> I'm dead. >> No one was breaking into her house on the night of March 3rd, 2014.
00:05:04
>> Big problem for her. >> She was with Patrick Cahulie, her on again, offagain boyfriend of more than 5
00:05:10
years. >> There's a legitimate reason why she did what she did. >> There is only one person who can explain
00:05:18
it. How are you doing today? Okay, just very nervous. >> But it's a big gamble. >> It's always a risk to put a defendant on
00:05:28
the [music] stand. >> Even riskier because Virginia, severely depressed and anxious, is now heavily
00:05:34
medicated. If you didn't put her on, the jury would never know what happened that
00:05:38
night. Do you still love Patrick? >> Objection, judge. I'll allow it. >> Yes. Their
00:05:51
story began in 2008. >> How did you meet him? >> I met him online. Match.com. >> Patrick was divorced. His two daughters
00:06:01
are here in court. >> Patrick Yhulie was not perfect, ladies and gentlemen. By no means.
00:06:07
>> He was, says prosecutor Matt Triano, a complicated man. >> He drank too much and too often.
00:06:17
But he had a big heart. He worked hard. He was loved by his family and friends and he loved them.
00:06:26
>> Patrick was working in private security, including a stint as a bodyguard for
00:06:31
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt after he had retired as a cop. >> It was a good relationship. He was very
00:06:39
attentive. >> When Virginia met Patrick, she had been unlucky at love. She had married three
00:06:45
times in search of it. The first time she had married young and it [music] didn't last. She had fallen hard for
00:06:52
husband number two, Scott Fertitus, also a police officer. >> Oh, she loved him very, very much.
00:07:00
>> Virginia's mother, Cranny Kolhoffer, says when the couple's children, Kelly and Billy, were young, Virginia left a
00:07:06
highpaying job at AT&T to [music] become a teacher so she could spend more time with them. Virginia would do just about
00:07:14
anything for her children, wouldn't she? >> Absolutely. She was a marvelous mother.
00:07:18
>> But she says that marriage collapsed when Scott cheated on Virginia. >> That tore her world apart. Just tore her
00:07:26
world apart. She was never the same after that. >> She's has a history of abandonment from
00:07:33
men. >> Jim Faulner was Virginia's husband number three. >> I met her on [music] match.com. That was
00:07:39
back in 2004, four years before Patrick. >> She had her master's degree working on
00:07:45
her doctorate. So, she was very smart and she knew what she wanted. She wanted this [music] perfect life, this uh white
00:07:54
picket fence and the happy family. >> But he says the relationship was volatile. And whenever he tried to
00:08:01
leave, [music] Virginia begged him to come back. >> She sent me a 100 roses. She did everything in her power to get
00:08:10
me back. She said she'll do whatever it takes. And we even went to therapy. >> Do you get the impression that it's very
00:08:19
difficult for Virginia to be without a man? >> Yes. She has to have somebody at all
00:08:25
times. >> The marriage to Jim didn't last either. [music] And soon Virginia was back on match.com.
00:08:32
>> I saw email that she was dating somebody >> Patrick Ahulie. >> Yeah. And that relationship was also
00:08:39
volatile. >> We broke up a lot. >> How many times had you broken up over the years?
00:08:44
>> Countless. [music] I can't even tell you how many. They fought a lot. She says
00:08:49
Patrick was unfaithful. At other times, jealous. [music] >> He did not like me talking to other men.
00:08:55
It made him feel humiliated. >> They even fought over taxes because Patrick hadn't paid his in years.
00:09:05
But mostly, she says, they fought about his drinking. >> When he was drinking, he was terrible.
00:09:11
He was terrible. >> Virginia says there were several times when Patrick was drinking that he was
00:09:17
violent with her. >> He pushed me down on the bed. He shoved me into a wall. He threw me on the
00:09:22
floor. >> A couple of times, this was towards the end. I would see bruises. They would be
00:09:27
on her arms or her legs or whatever. And I would say, "Virginia." She goes, "Oh,
00:09:32
I'm just clumsy." But Virginia never reported any of these alleged incidents to police.
00:09:39
>> But you're convinced that he was abusing her? >> Oh, I am absolutely convinced that he
00:09:44
was abusive to her. >> Why do you think then she stayed with him? >> Every time I ask her those same
00:09:49
questions, I love him, but I would say there's no butt, mom. I love him. >> Why did she remain silent? She had
00:10:00
various medical issues. Virginia struggled with an autoimmune [music] disease. Three months before the
00:10:07
shooting, she went on disability from her teaching job. >> She was weak, vulnerable. Ghoulie took
00:10:14
advantage of that. >> And the [music] defense says there's a bigger reason. >> Throughout the entire relationship,
00:10:23
Patrick Ghoulie had thrown up in her face when he abused her. I'm a cop. They're never going to believe you.
00:10:31
And that is the reason, says the defense, [music] that Virginia panicked the night she shot Patrick and then lied
00:10:38
about it. The cops come running in, "Get down. Get down." At that point in time, while she's on
00:10:46
911, she's thinking to herself after all of the beatings over the years that he beat her and what
00:10:56
he said to her, they're never going to believe you. [laughter] She makes up a story. She lies.
00:11:06
[laughter] on the stand fighting through the haze of medications. Virginia tries to
00:11:12
convince the jury she is now telling the truth. The couple argued that night as they had many times, she said, but this
00:11:21
time was different. >> I never saw his eyes look like that before. He said, "I'm going to kill you. You
00:11:34
was scared to death." I ran up the stairs and ran into the master bedroom. [music] I went over to the bed and I
00:11:42
reached under the mattress and I grabbed the gun. [music] I just kept shooting. I quickly looked
00:11:50
and he was still on the stairs. So, I just kept shooting down the stairwell. >> So, what led up to [music] that horrible
00:11:58
fight? >> She's the ex and I'm the new. So, probably there's going to be a disgruntle there.
00:12:18
A few weeks before Virginia Verta shot and killed Patrick Cahulie, trouble was brewing in their rocky
00:12:26
relationship once again. this time over this [music] woman. Colleen Roer had been seeing Patrick and
00:12:37
when Virginia discovered it, she wasted little time contacting her. >> I was getting prank hangups on my phone.
00:12:44
>> Can you approximate how many prank calls you received? >> Three or four. >> I'd like to direct your attention to
00:12:51
February 4th, 2014. Do you recall whether or not you had received some communication on Facebook?
00:12:59
>> I was getting friend requests. I didn't know who this person was cuz I'm very
00:13:03
selective about who I'm friends with on Facebook. So I said, "Who who are you?" >> Colleen says Patrick had told her about
00:13:10
Virginia but had been less than truthful and said she was an exgirlfriend. Believing him, Colleen sent Virginia
00:13:18
this message back. >> And I'm under the impression the two of you broke up. Please don't friend me
00:13:23
again. I didn't do anything to you. I'm sorry. >> Take your time. >> And she text me back something like, "Do
00:13:34
you think sleeping with my boyfriend of 6 years isn't doing anything to me?" And
00:13:38
I said, "No, not if it's over." >> Virginia's response, she told Colleen she had slept with Patrick that very
00:13:46
morning. Patrick was so angry he broke up with Virginia via text. We are done. So done. Wish you luck.
00:13:55
Find someone else. You can do it. Good luck. A week later, they had another heated
00:14:02
text exchange after Patrick accused Virginia of contacting Colleen again. Patrick left Virginia this angry
00:14:10
voicemail. >> Hey, psycho. Psycho woman. I'm calling your mother up. >> Yet fighting was part of their
00:14:16
relationship. [music] And Virginia and Patrick kept communicating. But the defense says in the weeks before the
00:14:23
shooting, Virginia had bigger problems on her mind than Patrick Cahulie, she had petitioned the school board to
00:14:30
return to work and they had voted against her. >> I was very upset. I was ready to go back
00:14:35
to school and I missed the kids. >> Virginia also missed her own children. Kelly was away at college and Billy,
00:14:43
then 16, had recently decided to move in with his father. Virginia has shared her distress over
00:14:51
her son with her therapist on March 3rd, the morning of the shooting. >> It was just really tough to talk about
00:14:59
Billy. I was heartbroken. >> Later that day around 6:00 p.m., Virginia texted Patrick asking if he was
00:15:09
coming over and he showed [music] up a half hour later. Ebolinka says Patrick had sex on his mind when he went over
00:15:16
there. He had taken Viagra, which not based on personal experience, you're going to find out, takes a while
00:15:24
to kick in, so it had to have been planned. >> And the evidence shows that Patrick
00:15:30
mixed it with something else that night. >> How drunk was Patrick O'Hulie on March
00:15:35
3rd, 2014? >> Crazy drunk. >> What? Almost three times. >> Three times illegal. Absolutely.
00:15:43
>> I unzippered his pants. According to Virginia, after a failed attempt at sexual intimacy that evening, Patrick
00:15:51
grew frustrated >> and he kind of pushed me away and zippered up his pants and put his belt
00:15:57
back on. >> Virginia says she left Patrick sort of dozing off on the floor and went to get
00:16:03
firewood at the 7-Eleven, but when she returned, he was gone. They finally connected in a telephone call and he was
00:16:11
screaming at her and ranting and raving about, you know, why did you leave me? You didn't tell me. And she's trying to
00:16:18
calm him down and she finally convinces him to come back. >> Virginia left open the front door and
00:16:25
while she was in another room, she heard him slam and shatter the storm door, dropping glass on the mat inside. When
00:16:33
he came back to the house, he was a raving lunatic. >> So, this is Virginia's home. We asked
00:16:40
[music] Belinkus to take us through what he says happened in the house next. Patrick eventually calmed down, Belinka
00:16:47
says. But they soon started arguing again. >> And that started the rage that to me was
00:16:55
building up inside of him. She sees that, she gets up and she starts to walk away from him.
00:17:01
But then Virginia says Belinkus made a fatal mistake and [music] said to Patrick, "At least I pay my taxes." Do
00:17:10
you think that line is what set everything off? At least I pay my taxes. >> You know, that's when he comes after
00:17:16
her. [music] >> The defense believes that earlier that evening, Patrick had discovered an IRS
00:17:22
form that Virginia had filled out to turn him in for unpaid taxes. [music] Ed, where did the physical altercation
00:17:34
actually take place? >> It started here. As she was entering the foyer, he grabs her from behind. She's
00:17:41
trying to get away and he pushes her up against the front door. He grabs her by the throat and starts choking her. He
00:17:49
looks her dead in the eye and says, "I'm going to kill you, you." After fighting on top of the broken
00:17:58
glass in the foyer, Belinka says Virginia managed to escape and ran upstairs to her bedroom where she
00:18:05
grabbed the gun she says Patrick had left under the mattress. >> She reaches under, she grabs the gun,
00:18:12
she runs out here. She sticks the gun around the corner and starts firing. >> The defense says Virginia, fearing for
00:18:21
her life, shot at Patrick. The first shot missed. The second shot is to the hand as he's reaching up maybe to try to
00:18:30
stop or grab the gun. The next shot goes to the neck. And the third shot is the one that hit
00:18:38
his arm. He's starting to come down. He gets the shot in the back. It goes through out
00:18:44
and out his chest. He's starting to collapse and his body lurches forward and that's when he gets the last shot.
00:18:51
He's fatally wounded and he collapses and that's where he died. Right here, >> Virginia told the jury she sat frozen in
00:19:02
fear before walking over to him, prone on the floor. >> I um I sat down next to him
00:19:11
and I kept shaking him. Patrick, please wake up. Please wake up. >> [snorts] >> Daddy wasn't waking up.
00:19:25
>> She was lying to the jury under oath. >> The state contends that Virginia's story
00:19:31
about what happened in the house [music] that night is full of holes. Oh my gosh.
00:19:54
In my office, I keep a wall of people that have been killed [music] or the victims of some crime, and it does
00:20:00
become personal. I think it should. Prosecutor Matt Triano [music] can't help becoming invested in murder cases,
00:20:08
especially when he believes the victim has [music] been dragged through the mud. Basically, her defense is blame the
00:20:16
victim. >> Oh, yeah. And it's hard. It's a very one-sided argument because, you know,
00:20:20
Patrick's not there to defend himself. >> You were angry. >> No, [music] not angry.
00:20:25
>> That's why Triano felt pressure to prove to the jury that Virginia was a real
00:20:29
aggressor that night. It sounds like what you're saying is Virginia Vertitus is a liar.
00:20:37
>> It's a good way to say it. >> The truth, Troano says, is that Virginia was obsessed with Patrick. She simply
00:20:44
couldn't accept that the relationship was over. >> Why do you believe that Virginia
00:20:49
Fertitus shot and killed Patrick Cahuli? >> Because she was having problems, you
00:20:54
know, with her son. She was having issues with work. And Patrick, the person that really she felt closest to,
00:21:01
was just up and leaving her. >> And the proof he says is in the text sent after that February 4th breakup
00:21:08
over Colleen. >> You recall saying to him things like, "There won't be another relationship.
00:21:15
I'll be dead first." >> Yes. >> Triano says Virginia tried to get Patrick back [music] by playing on his
00:21:22
sympathy. She claimed she had multiple sclerosis. >> At that time, did you specifically know
00:21:29
that you had MS? >> I specifically believed I had MS. >> I understand that. But you didn't tell
00:21:35
him that you believe you had it. You told him in fact that I do have it. >> Yes.
00:21:39
>> But when that tactic didn't work, Triano says Virginia tried to lure him with
00:21:45
sex. >> Did you ever ask him to come and say that it was just friends with benefits?
00:21:50
>> Yes. By March 3rd, [music] Patrick may finally have had enough. His friends and
00:21:55
family say he went to Virginia's that evening to end things with her once and for all.
00:22:01
>> You may have a seat, sir. Please keep. >> Patrick's brother, Paul Gahuli. >> And he said to me that this is it. I
00:22:07
can't do this anymore. And he also said to me that he wanted to discuss with her
00:22:11
some tax situation. >> But that testimony seems to support the defense theory. And attorney Ed Bolinkis
00:22:19
seizes on this. >> And why would he talk about that tax situation with my client if you know
00:22:24
based on your conversation? >> On prior conversations, he had told me that he was worried about Virginia
00:22:31
talking to the IRS about a tax situation. >> Belinka says it's more proof that it was
00:22:36
Patrick's [music] unpaid taxes that sparked the fatal fight. >> He had beaten her that night. He had
00:22:43
threatened to kill her that night. But was there a physical fight that night at all? Matt Troyano doesn't buy it. He
00:22:51
charges that Virginia's injuries are self-inflicted [music] and shows a jury what he says
00:22:58
appears to be Virginia scratching herself in the interrogation room video. >> So when the state says that she created
00:23:08
those injuries, what do you say? >> Bull crap. You know, how about the injury to the throat? When did she
00:23:14
create that? >> If she did one, she did all. >> You believe that? >> Patrick Goooli was a big guy. If what
00:23:21
she says is true, she would have looked beat up really, really bad. >> And if Patrick had broken the glass
00:23:31
storm door in anger and struggled with Virginia on top of the shards of glass, [music] why doesn't Virginia have cuts
00:23:39
and slashes? You know, you hear about essentially this death struggle that happens in the middle of this foyer, but
00:23:46
there's no cuts from glass. There's none of that. >> And Triano says he knows why
00:23:52
>> Patrick didn't break that glass. I don't think that the evidence supports that at
00:23:56
all. >> This is the glass from the exterior storm door. >> Triano called forensic expert Howard
00:24:01
Ryan to the stand to explain to the jury why Virginia's story about Patrick breaking the glass storm door couldn't
00:24:09
be true. There's generally three types of glass we deal with. They're all going to do certain things.
00:24:14
>> For starters, Ryan says storm doors are not that easy to break. [music] To test the state's position, we hired
00:24:24
Jim Molinaro, who works with Howard Ryan at Forensic Training Source. So, are almost all storm doors now that are used
00:24:32
made of tempered glass? >> Yes. >> What makes tempered glass different? >> Tempered glass is stronger than regular
00:24:38
glass. Generally speaking, it's about four times stronger. >> When the defendant says that she heard
00:24:43
the door break after Patrick Cahuli slammed it, what's your first reaction to that?
00:24:49
>> The likelihood of that happening, I wouldn't expect that to happen. >> Okay. Do you want to try?
00:24:53
>> We can give it a try. Yes. >> Okay. We tried slamming it over and over again.
00:25:02
And when that didn't work, we tried kicking it. Do you believe the defendant when she
00:25:11
says that door she heard the door break before the shooting? >> No. >> And you see them right here.
00:25:16
>> Even giving Virginia the benefit of the doubt that Patrick somehow managed to
00:25:21
break the storm door. Forensics appeared to disprove that, too. Howard Ryan explained that during the shooting, one
00:25:28
of the bullets went through both the front door and the glass storm door. Emanating from the bullet hole were
00:25:35
something called radio lines. And these are telltale clues. >> Radial fracture lines will only occur on
00:25:46
the first break of the window. >> Using a set of doors similar to the crime scene. We asked Jim Molinaro to
00:25:53
show us what happens to an unbroken storm door when it's hit by a bullet. Now, you're not going to be actually
00:26:00
firing the gun. >> No. I'm going to turn this over to Jeff Brion from the Gwinnet County Police
00:26:04
Department. Eyes and ears in place. Everybody behind the 15yd line. >> You ready to go look?
00:26:21
>> Let's go take a look. >> Oh my gosh. >> You can see they point directly to where
00:26:27
the bullet perforated the glass. I mean, this looks almost identical to the photos in evidence.
00:26:33
>> Yes, exactly. We couldn't have asked for better results. >> Just to see what the bullet hole would
00:26:37
look like if the glass was already broken like Virginia said it was. >> All right, range is hot.
00:26:43
>> We had Officer Brandon shoot the door again. [music] But what is not here that we saw with
00:26:56
the very first shot? You don't have the production of any radial fracture lines emanating out from where the bullet went
00:27:03
through the glass. >> All this is proof the state says that the bullet was the only thing that broke
00:27:08
the glass that night. That Patrick never shattered it in a rage. But what do they believe happened right
00:27:15
before the shooting? >> Jory entering. >> Patrick's own daughter, Jennifer Gahuli,
00:27:20
says she heard everything. >> I heard my dad screaming. She's hitting me. She's hitting me. Stop. Stop.
00:27:31
[snorts] >> Mr. Toronto, call your next witness, please. >> At this time, the state would call
00:27:43
Jennifer Gillulie. >> Jennifer was going to be the star [music] witness in the case.
00:27:48
>> Do you know an individual by the name of Virginia Bertitus? >> I do. >> And do you see Miss Vertitis in court
00:27:54
here today? >> I do. >> Could you identify her, please? She's sitting at the table right over there.
00:27:58
>> Stipulating she's identified my client. >> Jennifer Gahulie, Patrick's older daughter, was as close to an eyewitness
00:28:04
as the prosecution had. >> Jennifer, I'd like to direct your attention to March 3rd, 2014. Do you
00:28:12
recall that day? >> I do. >> Do you recall where you were on the evening? >> That night, Jennifer got three calls
00:28:20
from her father in just four minutes, right before he was shot. The first phone call when I picked up, he was
00:28:27
screaming, "She's hitting me. She's hitting me." And I kept hearing him screaming, "Stop! Stop!" He called me
00:28:33
again. I just heard yelling. I didn't really hear words. >> The phone calls proved Royano says that
00:28:40
Patrick was not attacking Virginia. It was [music] the other way around. >> Did you communicate with your father
00:28:47
again? >> I said, "Dad, I'm coming." He's like, "It's too far. you won't get here in
00:28:54
time. And the next thing I know is I heard three loud shots. I heard him say, "Holy, he's shooting." [snorts]
00:29:05
And the phone call went dead. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> That [music] was the last phone call
00:29:13
Patrick Cahulie ever made. But he didn't just call Jennifer those three times. He also made three other
00:29:23
phone calls to friends in those same four minutes before he was shot. Patrick's phone was later found in his
00:29:31
pocket, which is why defense attorney Ed Bolinka says most of those calls were actually pocket dials, but they go to a
00:29:39
number of different people. >> Okay, they go to a number of different people, but there's no real
00:29:43
communication between any of those calls. You know, I made three pocket dials yesterday. Pocket dials would
00:29:51
suggest that Patrick's hands were free to attack Virginia. The defense calls legendary pathologist Dr. Sarah Wet to
00:30:00
buttress their case. >> He's been involved in cases like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King,
00:30:10
Elvis Presley. >> In this case, Dr. Wet draws the jury's attention to the wound on Patrick's
00:30:17
right hand, which Wet says was caused by the first bullet to hit him. >> Shot that was fired as Mr. Ghouli was
00:30:26
reaching up with his right hand would fit in with that grazing gunshot wound. >> And that says the defense suggests
00:30:35
Patrick was coming up the stairs towards Virginia just as she described. >> My opinion is that Mr. Gahuli's right
00:30:45
hand was reaching up toward me Vertitis. It is almost physically impossible for that to have happened that way.
00:30:54
>> So, how do you believe that Patrick sustained that bullet graze wound on his head?
00:31:00
>> I think that he was on the phone with his daughter. He was going down the steps and he had a phone up to his ear
00:31:05
and the bullet came right past. But if the prosecution is right, how did Patrick's phone get back into his
00:31:15
pocket? >> I think she put it there. >> Virginia did have plenty of time, he points out, [music] because she didn't
00:31:22
call 911 for 25 minutes. >> Not 25 seconds, not 2 and 1/2 minutes, 25 minutes. [snorts]
00:31:33
Virginia's explanation. She says she couldn't find her cell phone and the battery on her landline was dying.
00:31:42
But the state believes she was really using that time to clean up and placed Patrick's phone in his pocket, staging a
00:31:51
scene that would match the lie she told police. >> Somebody was breaking in my house.
00:31:57
Police say they found her bedroom shower wet and a single pair of pink pajama pants in the washer, which was running.
00:32:07
>> Patrick Yhulie left a 38 caliber loaded revolver underneath your mattress. >> Yes, he always had it under the
00:32:15
mattress. >> Most important, Troyano is determined to pin Virginia down on where she got the
00:32:21
gun. She claims Patrick left it there in the spring of 2012. 2 years before the shooting and it had been under her
00:32:30
mattress ever since. >> Did he leave it there because he forgot it or did he leave it there because you
00:32:37
wanted it? >> He left it there. He knew I was worried. He knew I didn't like being alone. When
00:32:43
he when um Oh god, I just lost my train of thought. Sitting in the courtroom, Patrick's
00:32:52
younger daughter, Heather, hears this and then realizes she has proof that Virginia's story can't be true. She
00:33:01
calls the prosecutor that night after court. >> I told her that, "Well, you can't just
00:33:07
tell me this. I can't testify about it." Heather, do you recognize this photo? >> Yes, I do.
00:33:11
>> You have to testify. >> She brings in a picture taken when her father was still alive.
00:33:17
>> What is that photo of? Uh, that's a photo of my uh father's first gun that he had when he was a cop.
00:33:21
>> And when did you take that photo? >> August of 2012. All >> right. And do you recall where you took
00:33:26
that photo? >> In Staten Island at my mother's house where I was living at the time.
00:33:30
>> That puts the gun 50 miles from Virginia's house months after Virginia said she had the gun hidden under her
00:33:38
mattress. >> Maybe he took the gun, maybe cleaned it, maybe brought it back. [music]
00:33:44
>> But Triano thinks she stole it. Two weeks before the shooting, cell tower data traced Virginia driving from
00:33:52
New Jersey to Patrick's home in Staten Island when he wasn't there. She says she never went inside.
00:34:00
>> It's just your testimony that you didn't have a key for that apartment. >> Yes.
00:34:04
>> The defense is now struggling and Ed Bolinkus is frustrated because the rules
00:34:09
of evidence limit what he could tell the jury about an incident in Patrick's past. He was suspended from the New York
00:34:17
Police Force for beating his first wife. >> Newspaper articles from 1996 tell the
00:34:26
story of an alleged assault where Patrick slammed his then wife's head against the wall and the sink. But all
00:34:34
the jury heard was this. He told me that at one point he hit his wife, got in trouble with the police, but that he
00:34:43
really just got a slap on the wrist. Patrick was charged with misdemeanor assault and suspended without pay. The
00:34:52
charges were later dropped. >> Let me tell you something. If you put your hands on a woman once, you can do
00:34:59
it again. >> But what would the jury think? >> We heard voicemails. We read text
00:35:05
messages. He had a temper. [music] It's a huge undertaking. There's a lot of responsibility that's
00:35:28
on you. You feel the weight of the world. It's very nerve-wracking. As prosecutor
00:35:33
Matt Troano prepared for closing arguments, he reviewed crucial evidence in the case.
00:35:41
The storm door, Heather Gahuli's photo of the gun, and then there was this Patrick's car
00:35:50
key fob. It was found in pieces throughout the house. Triano thinks he knows how it got that way.
00:35:57
>> My theory is she just takes it and she breaks it herself. The way to keep him there was to break
00:36:03
that [music] key fob. >> But it was just a theory. There were no fingerprints and no DNA on the fob. So
00:36:10
Troyano didn't know whether he'd be able to make that argument to the jury. >> All right, we're ready for someations.
00:36:18
Mr. Belinkus. >> But during the defense closing argument, Triano saw his opportunity.
00:36:24
>> Who broke the key fob? Ed Bolinkis offered the jury his theory of how the key fob may have been broken.
00:36:31
>> Prosecutor's position is there was no signs of a struggle. Well, there's a broken key fob.
00:36:36
>> And that gave Troyano the opening he needed. >> Do you know what you can't do after the
00:36:41
key fob's broken? You can't drive your car anymore. >> If Patrick couldn't use his car to leave
00:36:47
the house, then that would explain the six calls he made in the minutes leading up to the shooting. Patrick Gahuli would
00:36:54
have to call somebody to pick him up. He wasn't going anywhere if this was broken.
00:37:00
>> The defense is hoping the jury will believe that Patrick was a violent man. >> The evidence is clear that my client was
00:37:08
in fear of her life. If she didn't kill him, he would have killed her. Period. >> Patrick Cahulie does have at least one
00:37:17
incident as background. Doesn't that make you wonder if in fact there was some kind of physical altercation with
00:37:24
Virginia? >> No. No. I I will be as emphatic as I can be. No. There was an incident with his wife
00:37:31
a very long time ago. And that wife who was his ex-wife at the time of the trial
00:37:36
sat through that trial every single day. >> This is not self-defense. This is a murder.
00:37:50
>> [music] >> I was in the office and somebody said they have a verdict. >> You got to let everybody know. You got
00:37:57
to get the family. >> All right. >> Morning everyone. Please be seated. >> After almost 7 hours of deliberations,
00:38:05
>> the jury has reached a verdict. >> I'm getting more nervous. >> All right, let's get the jury, please.
00:38:10
>> I was definitely not confident at all. Madam four lady, with regard to count one, what is the verdict of the jury?
00:38:17
>> Guilty. Oh my gosh. >> Guilty of firstdegree murder. [music] >> We will now take a individual polling of
00:38:27
all the jurors. Just >> I prepared them for the worst. I think that they were probably expecting the
00:38:32
worst. So when it turns the other way, it felt good. It was emotional. All right, ladies and gentlemen of the
00:38:41
jury, your service in this case is complete. I hope you found it to be a rewarding experience for you. Perhaps
00:38:47
you >> I felt really comfortable with, you know, our decision. >> We spoke to three of the jurors after
00:38:54
the verdict. John Hoover, Gina Samra, and Patty MW. >> Did any one of the jurors believe that
00:39:02
it was self-defense? >> No. >> No. >> Not one. No. [clears throat] >> No. And they say the key fob was
00:39:10
critical. Do you believe that she broke it so he couldn't leave? >> I really do. I really do. Cuz we
00:39:16
actually took all the pieces in the jury room and >> put it back together >> and put it all back together.
00:39:21
>> It wasn't It wasn't broken. >> There was not one broken piece down to the battery. Put the whole thing back
00:39:26
together. >> And what did that say to you, Patty? >> It looked like it was intentionally
00:39:31
taken apart. >> Not letting him get away. Not letting him start the car and get away.
00:39:38
This is a state of New Jersey versus Virginia [music] Veritus. Matter is on for sentencing before the court. May I
00:39:44
have >> two months after the verdict. >> My name is Paul Gahuli, Patrick's brother.
00:39:48
>> Patrick's family addresses the judge at Virginia's sentencing. >> Patrick would not be there to walk his
00:39:55
daughters, Jennifer and Heather, down the aisles when they married. One of the statements comes from the
00:40:03
woman he allegedly attacked all those years ago. >> Can I get [music] your name for the
00:40:07
record, please? >> It's Teresa Higgins, and I'm going to be reading on behalf of my daughters,
00:40:12
Jennifer and Heather Gil. >> Patrick's ex-wife, the mother of their children. >> Our father will never be able to hear us
00:40:19
wish him another happy birthday or another happy Father's Day. Our father will never again get to hear I love you,
00:40:27
Daddy. [snorts] Miss Ratitz, please stand for a moment on the charge of firstdegree murder.
00:40:35
>> Virginia was sentenced to 30 years in prison. >> You must serve the full 30 years in
00:40:42
prison without the possibility of parole. [music] >> Do you think you will at some point see
00:40:54
Virginia walk out of prison >> before I die? I hope so. >> Her mother, Cranny, [music] is helping
00:41:01
with her appeal. >> One of the things she keeps telling me is, "Mom, don't leave me."
00:41:07
And I [snorts] hope I don't have to before she gets out. >> And now Virginia, who feared
00:41:14
abandonment, could spend [music] the rest of her life alone. Heat. [music] [music]
00:41:45
Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] >> [music] >> It was 7:00 a.m. I don't know whether it was the house alarm that woke me up or
00:42:14
the gunfire. I had no idea what was going on, what had happened until I I heard my uh my mother screaming and then
00:42:22
more shots and they were they were pretty pretty rapid. I heard a real lot of dryfiring.
00:42:30
I knew that the gun was empty and I went far enough to be able to see into the bathroom and I saw my father laying on
00:42:39
the floor with blood. I can still see my father every time I I close my eyes. >> Now an emergency.
00:42:48
>> Yes, this is Admiral Security. I'm calling in because we have a dead person at 408 Mariner.
00:42:53
>> Mr. Horowitz was a 66-year-old gentleman who was found deceased in his home on
00:43:00
September 30th of 2011. >> Did he shoot himself? >> Um, that's what it sounds like to me.
00:43:06
>> Okay. So, he committed suicide, >> correct? >> Impossible. never believed the suicide
00:43:11
for 10 seconds. Everybody loved Lanny. My brother had a lot to live for. Nobody lived like Lanny. He lived like royalty.
00:43:19
>> There's only two people in the house. [music] Bradley and his mother, Adonna.
00:43:24
Donna and Lanny had been married, divorced, and remarried, [music] and divorced again.
00:43:32
>> Well, I don't know who killed Lanny Horowitz, but I know it wasn't Donna. My father did some really, really awful
00:43:40
stuff to me and to my mother. >> Rad did not like his father one bit. He hated him. Absolutely hated him.
00:43:51
>> He was an absolute just evil bastard. >> Did you shoot dad? >> No. Absolutely not.
00:43:59
>> There were a lot of guns in the house. I've never seen that many guns in someone's house. All three of them were
00:44:05
gun afficionados, including Donna. >> This family [music] puts the fun in dysfunctional.
00:44:12
>> Not only was he murdered, he was murdered with such indifference. He died like Caesar, surrounded by enemies.
00:44:18
>> It boils down to a motive as old as time, and that's love, hate, and obsession.
00:44:35
>> [music] >> I still want to know exactly what happened that morning. Bradley Horwitz was asleep at his
00:44:57
parents' Jupiter, Florida home on September 30th, 2011 when he woke up to a nightmare.
00:45:04
>> I jumped out of bed and heard I I don't know how many shots. >> Disoriented and defenseless with the
00:45:12
house alarm blaring, Bradley stayed in his room, not knowing if the shooter would make him the next target. I was
00:45:20
basically pacing back and forth in my room like a trapped rat and I was afraid to go out that door there.
00:45:27
>> You don't know who's been shot. You don't know who's got >> I could hear I could hear my mom
00:45:32
screaming my name. >> When the shooting stopped, Bradley rushed down the hall into his parents'
00:45:38
bedroom. He looked into the master bathroom and saw his father, 66-year-old Lanni Horowitz.
00:45:46
>> I was scared and I I ran out of there. He looked like he was certainly beyond
00:45:50
uh any help. >> When you came out, what was your mother's state? Was she sobbing? Was she
00:45:56
panicked? Was she what? >> She was hysterical. >> Bradley says he then left his mother,
00:46:01
Donna, so he could turn off that house alarm. A security officer in this gated community rushed to the house.
00:46:09
>> He was at the door in a flash. >> Security made that 911 call. We had an alarm go off over there and
00:46:17
our medic responded. >> I received a call to respond to Admiral's Cove for a death
00:46:24
investigation, possible suicide. >> Detective Eric Frank of the Jupiter Police Department responded and found
00:46:31
three family members that lived at the home. >> There was Lanny's ex-wife, Donna. They
00:46:36
actually were divorced, but they were still living together. Uh their son, Bradley, lived with them. Frank spoke to
00:46:45
Luis Garcia, the Admiral's Cove security guard, who found Lanny with the gun in his hand and was one of the few to speak
00:46:53
to Donna that morning. >> I said, "Was anything going on?" She said, "He said he was going to do this."
00:46:58
I said, "What? Kill himself?" She said, "Yes." >> There was blood everywhere. It was very
00:47:02
hard to determine what were gunshot wounds. At that point, once I stepped into the bathroom and
00:47:10
looked back towards the shower door, you can plainly see the bullet hole through
00:47:14
through the glass and through the towel that was hanging over the door. And that
00:47:18
made me stop everyone where we were and say, "Something's wrong here." >> It wasn't until the coroner moved
00:47:26
Lanny's body 10 hours later that it became clear this was no suicide. Lanny had been shot nine times. Based on our
00:47:35
investigation, Lanny was shot while he was in the shower first. And as he's getting out of the shower, he was shot
00:47:44
multiple additional times to where he fell and was basically executed on that floor.
00:47:53
>> Violent crimes are almost unheard of in this wealthy development called Admiral's Cove.
00:48:00
>> Admiral's Cove is a beautiful development. Lanni had a beautiful home on the water and it was a a prestigious
00:48:07
place to live. >> Lanny's older brother, Barry. >> They call me Captain Barry. And Captain
00:48:14
Barry is never seen without his signature captain's hat. He says at one time, Lanni and Donna lived a life most
00:48:23
people would envy. >> They had homes all over the country. They were able to travel all over the
00:48:29
world. He had sailboats. He had airplanes. Anything life could offer was there for them.
00:48:36
>> Your brother was a business whirlwind, wasn't he? I mean, incredibly gifted businessman.
00:48:41
>> Absolutely. I won't argue with that. Lanny was a millionaire at a very early age. At 16, he was a real estate
00:48:48
salesman for my father who did commercial real estate. Within a short time, he became a real estate broker,
00:48:54
and he took to it uh like nothing I've ever seen. The only thing Lanny seemed to make time
00:49:01
for was his high school sweetheart, Donna. >> Donna was a knockout. I think Lanny was
00:49:07
obsessed. He loved her. He didn't want to date anybody else. And they were always together.
00:49:13
>> The Loveirds married [music] in 1967. >> It was a great home life. My parents are
00:49:20
the greatest people in the world. Donna was a stay-at-home mom, and Bradley was their only child. But after
00:49:28
30 years of marriage, his parents' relationship became a soap opera. >> Your parents were first married in
00:49:35
Buffalo in 1967, correct? >> Divorced in May of 2001, remarried in September 2001, and then divorced again
00:49:45
in June 2002. >> That sounds about right. It was a roller coaster. Yes. What led to the first
00:49:52
divorce? >> My mother felt that she was being ignored and uh wound up getting picked
00:49:57
up by a a fellow that worked there that was a security guard. My father was so insensed and disgusted.
00:50:04
>> But after 9 years of seeing each other sporadically, the on-again off-again couple reconciled [music] in 2011 as
00:50:13
described in Donna's day planner turn journal. She called Lannie by her pet name,
00:50:20
Lambo. So happy Lambo and I are getting back together. By April 2011, Donna had moved back into
00:50:29
the Admiral's Cove house with Lannie [music] and Radley, a single dad who worked for his father.
00:50:35
>> And um uh my father's line was, you know, we're all going to be a family again. It did not work out that way. And
00:50:43
my father's behavior towards her very very much changed. He had never forgiven her for leaving him. That was very
00:50:50
obvious. And personality-wise, he could be a difficult person to uh to get along
00:50:55
with. >> But Bradley could never imagine his parents' relationship coming to such a
00:51:01
violent end, he says, if it wasn't [music] for this woman. >> My parents had their ups and downs and
00:51:07
their problems, but this never would have happened if it was not for Francine Ty.
00:51:30
There's no question [music] that this is a tragic, horrible, horrible case. Assistant state attorney Altha McRoberts
00:51:37
was at the crime scene that day and Lanny's [music] bullet ridden body told her this was no ordinary homicide case.
00:51:45
>> It was clear that this was a statement that was being made by the shooter. >> Bradley Horowitz was described as stoic
00:51:53
while his mother Donna appeared visibly upset. Assistant state attorney Lauren Goden
00:52:00
>> at the scene she shuts down. She does not talk to police and she does not talk
00:52:05
to anyone. She puts her fingers over her ears and mouse, "I can't hear you." >> There was no forced entry into the home.
00:52:13
There was nothing. >> CSI investigator Tracy McClendon began processing the crime scene, shooting
00:52:21
video and pictures. >> And this is the bathroom in which the incident took place.
00:52:30
And inside the shower, we have the bullet hole here. >> As investigators look for clues, they
00:52:36
discovered an arsenal of weapons. >> This is a photograph of um firearms that were found in the home
00:52:44
>> from handguns to assault rifles, 26 in all, and thousands of rounds of ammunition in militarystyle ammo boxes.
00:52:55
>> This is all in the same house, >> correct? Most of them were registered to Lanny and his son Bradley, [music] a
00:53:01
former licensed gun dealer and enthusiast. >> Unusual based on your experience? >> Um, I've never seen that many guns in
00:53:09
someone's house. >> But it was these two revolvers that were found in the master bedroom area that
00:53:15
were of immediate interest. One gun was Donna's and the other was registered to Lanny.
00:53:22
>> There was the firearm that had been in his hand. It's a five shot Smith and Wesson revolver. And there's another gun
00:53:28
sitting right on top of the dresser. Both of those guns were matched to projectiles in and around Landing.
00:53:37
>> Incredibly, even though Radley and his mother were obvious persons of interest,
00:53:42
cops let them leave. >> We let them leave the scene because we wanted to have that time to build that
00:53:49
case as best we can. In virtually every murder case I've ever been involved with, if you have a body in a house and
00:53:55
you have two people and you believe that one of those two people is the killer, you take them to the police house, you
00:54:00
separate them and you question them. That was not done here. >> You can't arrest somebody just for
00:54:06
suspicion of murder. The initial focus is clearly it's just uh Donna and Bradley, but we didn't take that at face
00:54:14
value alone. Police spent days collecting evidence and going through the family's personal belongings. What
00:54:22
are you learning? >> We're learning that this is a very dysfunctional house. >> One very telling item that was recovered
00:54:28
was that journal Donna kept >> in the beginning of the journal. She talks about all the positive things.
00:54:34
>> He couldn't stop hugging me, Donna wrote, and telling me how much he misses me.
00:54:39
>> Happy birthday. >> She was spending time with her granddaughter >> to the library. Um, Bradley has a
00:54:45
daughter. Her name is Giana. It's a situation where she is very hopeful. >> She was excited when Lanny asked her to
00:54:52
move back in with him. Lanny loves me and I love him and I want to help him. Even though it seemed to come with a
00:55:01
catch, to loan him $200,000, his [music] once lavish lifestyle had been left in shreds after their
00:55:09
divorces, the recession, and bad business dealings. very special day when Lanny asked about $200,000
00:55:17
to keep both houses afloat and move back in and reconcile. Great day. But just five months later,
00:55:27
>> we see from the entries her mental state was becoming more and more fragile. >> My heart is broken and he is working on
00:55:34
my mind, playing games with me. It was during that time that Donna became obsessed.
00:55:41
>> Hi Franc. >> Hi. with Francine Ty. >> Francine Ty lived down the street from uh from our house.
00:55:48
>> Lanny told his family that he and Francine were business partners >> before >> selling a health food product for a
00:55:56
company called Lifemax. >> Did they have a business relationship, a personal relationship?
00:56:02
>> They claimed that it was uh that it was business, but I saw that it was more than that.
00:56:07
>> How did you know this was more than a business relationship? >> Oh, I mean I I saw it. I saw pictures.
00:56:12
They were always out together. >> Even Lanny's family noticed a change in him after meeting Francine.
00:56:19
>> They were holding hands, you know, kids stuff. It's the first time I saw Lanny
00:56:23
happy in 40 years. >> Francine spoke at length to 48 hours about Lanny, but would not do an on
00:56:30
camera interview. She vehemently denies having ever had a sexual relationship with him. But Donna pictured something
00:56:39
else and began documenting Francine's comingings and goings. Fran texted Lambo at midnight, woke us up. Lanny left at
00:56:48
1:15 to go on an errand with Fran, didn't return until 4:15 p.m. >> It was a daily
00:56:57
um contact with Francine and Lanny via in person and in text and in phone calls. Now, Francine Ty has said that
00:57:08
there was not a physical relationship between her and Lanny, that this was a business partnership.
00:57:14
>> What was important for our purposes was that Donna believed that they were intimate.
00:57:19
>> Lambo home 7:30 p.m. trying to act like he isn't with Fran all the time. >> I think she's heartbroken and angry and
00:57:30
probably angry with herself for being so foolish. foolish, Bradley now says, for
00:57:37
believing Lanny still loved her and giving him [music] that $200,000. It it became obvious to my mother that,
00:57:45
you know, that she had been duped. >> By September 2011, [music] it was clear their onagain, off-again
00:57:52
relationship was over because Bradley believes of Francine. She is the most phony, vicious, backstabbing, vile,
00:58:03
quintessential Disney villain monster that I think I've I've ever encountered. >> Mc Roberts says Lanny told Donna he
00:58:11
wanted her out of the house before he came back from a business trip, one he was taking with Francine. [music]
00:58:19
>> This is a woman who has reached the end of her robe. This was Donna who was not
00:58:25
about to let him go on that trip with Francine. >> Police believed they now had their
00:58:30
killer. Just 6 days after Lanny was brutally shot nine times, Donna was arrested for his murder.
00:58:37
>> Donna is a very meek, timid, soft-spoken individual. Gray Tesh is Donna's attorney.
00:58:46
>> Who had the motive? Who had the opportunity? Who may have had the grudge to commit this murder? Both Donna and
00:58:54
Radley. But see, here's here's the difference, though. Donna left him twice before.
00:59:03
You know, why why now? Most of my life, my father was was a good person, but towards the end, he was an absolute just
00:59:11
evil bastard. It's just that attitude that makes Tesh say cops got it all wrong and that
00:59:19
Bradley is the real killer. >> So all the motivation that is raised by uh investigators in this case for Donna
00:59:26
wanting to shoot her husband, you're telling me Bradley had that in spades. >> He had more motivation to off his
00:59:32
father. My life up until everything exploded was uh was great. >> In less than one week, Bradley had lost
00:59:57
both his parents. [music] His father murdered, his mother in jail, accused of killing him.
01:00:05
>> Did you ask your mother what happened? No, never. What do you say other than I
01:00:09
mean I wanted to know what happened, but I was afraid to to ask. >> Donna's attorney, Gray Tesh, says there
01:00:16
are a lot of holes in the case. >> If she was the shooter, she would have blood all over her body, everywhere. The
01:00:24
shooter, I think, was someone taller than Donna because of the angle. If you look at the autopsy report, if you look
01:00:31
at the angle, they consistently say that they go downwards. Test starts building a shocking defense,
01:00:41
pointing the finger directly at Donna's own son, Radley Horowitz. >> For some people, this is the ultimate
01:00:49
betrayal. A mother through you accusing her own son of a murder to save her own skin. That's what the evidence showed.
01:00:59
>> Why do you believe Bradley killed his father? >> He had half a million reasons to kill
01:01:04
him. >> Bradley alone stood to inherit $500,000 in life insurance money, two homes, and
01:01:12
Lanny's other prized assets. Donna, as Lanny's ex-wife, wouldn't have received a penny.
01:01:19
>> So today, are you a multi-millionaire as a result of all this? >> No. No. He left me two houses that were
01:01:25
pretty much upside down and some very nice cars, most of which I got rid of. But I kept the Aston Martin.
01:01:33
>> But back in 2011, when his father was murdered, Bradley's finances were a mess. That's why he was living with his
01:01:41
parents. >> You were struggling, correct? >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Get a job as a convicted
01:01:46
felon. >> That's right. This son of a one-time millionaire served time in prison.
01:01:52
Before his arrest, Bradley was a licensed gun dealer in a business his father helped him set up, Jupiter Arms.
01:02:01
It was my passion. I took to it like a fish to water. I was just absolutely lethal, but disciplined and responsible.
01:02:09
>> Years earlier, Bradley says at his father's urging, he bought an illegal gun part online for his personal
01:02:16
collection, which could convert a Glock pistol into a fully automatic weapon. My
01:02:21
father said his exact words were just order it. >> That attracted the attention of federal
01:02:28
law enforcement. And Bradley says his father [music] took great delight in his misfortune.
01:02:34
>> He got a real kick out of the fact that those ATF guys were there and loved, you
01:02:38
know, saying, "I told you so." and stuff like that. >> Then in 2006, Bradley was arrested by
01:02:44
the ATF after selling a handgun to a felon. >> That's serious, right? >> Oh, hell yes. I wound up with five
01:02:51
months in federal prison. >> Do you blame your father for the fact that you ended up in prison?
01:02:56
>> Ultimately, yes. >> Is there enough resentment for you to shoot him? >> No. That's You know what the hell does
01:03:04
that solve? >> What better way, it's alleged to get your financial house in order than to
01:03:11
off your father who'd been tormenting your mother. >> And it wasn't always very nice to me
01:03:16
either. Bradley said his father was never physically abusive, but that years of verbal taunting was in some ways far
01:03:25
worse. >> My dad, you know, it could be extremely nasty. The psychological uh death of a
01:03:30
thousand cuts uh never never lets up. Just snide, sarcastic, uh aloof. >> Still, as prosecutors compile their
01:03:39
case, they feel strongly that all the signs point [music] to Bradley's mother. >> Is this shooting 10 times? Is this a son
01:03:47
that's angry or is this an angry wife that is has snapped? >> Donna was so angry, investigators
01:03:55
believe she used the last of the 10 bullets to make a brutal statement by shooting Lanny in the mouth.
01:04:02
>> Why shoot him in the mouth? >> I think she was tired of his mouth. I think he she was tired of him being
01:04:06
cruel and biting and condescending. >> Things are not good here, she confided in her journal. His comments are
01:04:14
insulting. A week after the murder, >> Bradley goes to the police station with his attorney to give a full statement.
01:04:23
>> She was saying, "He was so awful. He was so awful." He said, she said that twice.
01:04:30
>> Donna says to Bradley, "He was so awful." Are those words a confession to you?
01:04:37
>> Absolutely. Her immediate response, her gut reaction when she sees someone is to
01:04:42
start justifying what she did. The quote too, by the way, he was so awful, right?
01:04:48
Police never heard that. He doesn't say that on scene. He says that a week later
01:04:52
after he lawyers up. >> Tesh believes that Bradley made up both that quote and the story about the dry
01:05:01
fires. >> You're hearing, as you called it, the dry fire. >> Click click click. Yeah. Empty. When I
01:05:07
heard the clicking in my mind, at least I knew that >> I was safe. Well, he's full of crap.
01:05:15
Tell me, how can you hear dryf fires when you've got a defcon alarm going off? And by the way, his bedroom's on
01:05:24
one side of the house. The master bedroom's on completely on the other side of the house.
01:05:29
>> But unlike Donna, Detective Frank says Bradley cooperated fully on scene. >> He gives us a DNA standard. He allows my
01:05:39
CSI to conduct a gunshot residue test on him. what was the result of that test? >> And it did come back as negative for
01:05:46
gunshot residue. >> Donna wasn't given a gunshot residue test after she asked to speak with an
01:05:52
attorney. >> She didn't want to answer any of your questions. >> Nothing. >> Tesh says police botched the
01:05:59
investigation by never collecting and [music] examining Donna's pajamas or Radley's clothes the morning of the
01:06:06
murder. >> Nobody says she had blood on her pajamas. They the police were right next
01:06:12
to her. They're right next to her. They would have noticed that. >> And Tesh says the state has little to
01:06:19
support their claim that Donna was the shooter. >> They ain't got squat. Here's what they
01:06:25
got. They got no fingerprints on either one of the weapons, right? Or the shell casings. No DNA specifically linking
01:06:34
her. Nothing. Not a zip. >> This is a circumstantial case. It is. You have a journal in which she
01:06:42
complains about her husband, but she never in the journal says, "I'm going to kill him."
01:06:47
>> Correct. >> It isn't just the journal. It's how the journal explains the crime scene. Why it
01:06:53
would have been done in such a cruel and hateful manner. >> As the case goes to trial, prosecutors
01:07:00
insist they [music] have the right person. >> There's absolutely no question that
01:07:05
Donna Horowitz shot and murdered her husband, Lanny. But the defense says Radley's own words speak volumes about
01:07:14
his motive. >> This sounds awful, but I am glad that he was up and alive long enough to know
01:07:21
that what comes around goes around and that uh this was the payback for everything that he had done to not only
01:07:29
my mother but but to me. [music] >> [music] >> Almost a year and a half after Lanni
01:07:48
Horwitz was murdered, [music] prosecutors are ready to present their case in court.
01:07:53
>> I think the essence of the case from the very beginning was this was about a woman scorned.
01:07:58
>> And the accused scorned woman looked [music] nearly unrecognizable to Lanny's
01:08:03
sisters. Marsha Van Crevel and Sheila Goldberg. >> She looked like a witch. She had this
01:08:11
beautiful, gorgeous black hair, gorgeous eyelashes, and here's this little skinny
01:08:18
thing with this gray hair and glasses. >> Attorney Gray Tesh has settled on what
01:08:25
could be called the ultimate betrayal defense, accusing Donna's son to save her own skin. He's a spoiled child
01:08:37
who thinks he's entitled to everything. >> He's got to fund his lifestyle somehow.
01:08:43
And God knows he ain't working for it. >> It's shocking to people that your mother
01:08:48
would agree to a defense that accuses her own son. >> I don't know if it was so much agreeing
01:08:55
to a defense as it was a case of uh him saying, "Hey, this is your only shot." I'm going to show you um what's been
01:09:02
marked for identification states exhibits one and two. >> Do you recognize those guns?
01:09:08
>> Mc Roberts brought the guns up to me or at least one of them in court and showed
01:09:11
it to me and there was just there was was uh blood all over it. [snorts] >> And Tesh believes there is evidence that
01:09:19
some of that blood ended up in Radley's own sink. >> This right here um this is when I did
01:09:26
the lumininal testing. CSI officer Tracy McClendon analyzed every sink in the Horwit's house.
01:09:33
>> This is Radley's bathroom. Um, he was very clean. You can see the entire sink
01:09:40
is full. The faucet is covered. Everything is covered and glowing. >> Could this not be blood?
01:09:46
>> The glow was really, really bright and it faded quick, which tells me that it's
01:09:52
more of a cleaning solution than blood. blood will glow a little lighter and it will last a little longer.
01:09:59
>> McClendon testified that all the sinks in the house had a similar reaction which may poke a hole in Tesh's theory.
01:10:07
>> We do it to show blood, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that is blood.
01:10:12
>> Could be bleach, right? Or household products or things like that. >> Yes. >> Right. It's possible.
01:10:18
>> Yes. >> It's also possible that it's blood though, right? >> Yes. But Tesh claims it's proof that Bradley,
01:10:26
a known neat freak, washed his father's blood off his hands. >> You clean yourself. I mean, you're
01:10:33
obsessive about cleaning. I will bet you >> that you even have $100 says you've got
01:10:39
a bottle in your pocket right now. >> Guilty of guilty of having pure, >> right?
01:10:48
>> Thanks for the clarification. >> Don't want to [snorts] get you too excited. Sorry. Give me a sense of what
01:10:53
you need to convey to this jury. Somebody else did it. >> That somebody else, Tesh claims, may
01:11:00
include a hitman hired by Bradley. Tesh says this smear of Lanni Horwitz's blood
01:11:06
on a gate at its home contains DNA from an unidentified person. >> Someone else's DNA is on that bloody
01:11:14
smudge on the gate. Someone else was involved with this. It wasn't Donna. It wasn't Bradley. It wasn't any of the
01:11:21
security guards. >> Is that the gate that everyone has to come in and out of to go through the
01:11:25
front door? >> Yes, it is. >> The state says the mystery DNA is meaningless. >> The smudge on the post has Lanny's blood
01:11:34
on it and the DNA of someone else who did not match anyone in that house. Isn't that your killer?
01:11:41
>> No. When they swab the gate to get the blood off of it, it picks up the underlying DNA of anyone that ever
01:11:49
touched that gate since the last time it was ever cleaned, which could be countless numbers of people.
01:11:56
>> And to prove that no intruder was responsible, prosecutors point to the alarm system in the house. The very
01:12:04
first alarm was in fact the glass shatter alarm from the sound of the gun being fired in the bathroom, which meant
01:12:11
and corroborated that no other person had come into the home prior to the first shot being fired.
01:12:17
>> Tesh tries to back up his new theory by introducing Hitman, a technical manual
01:12:24
for independent contractors. >> You bought the Hitman book at a gun show. Yes. >> Yes, that is correct. And the essence of
01:12:33
this Hitman book is it teaches you how to kill somebody and get away with it. Yes.
01:12:40
>> As opposed to killing somebody and getting caught. Yes. >> McRoberts says the hitman theory is
01:12:46
bogus because Lanny Horowitz was killed with his own gun. >> What hitman would go to do a hit and
01:12:53
hope to God that people had a gun that they could find to to complete the killing?
01:12:58
>> Your hitman theory. The problem I see with that is that Donna is in the house.
01:13:03
She would have seen this hitman, wouldn't she? >> If you're in your house and you hear
01:13:07
shots, do you just go out and run out to see what's going on, especially if you don't
01:13:12
have a gun on you, or do you stay somewhere safe? He portrays me as a complete screw-up, a nitwit, and uh unemployed.
01:13:23
So, where am I going to come up with the money to hire some hitman? There's someone in this case who can
01:13:30
answer so many questions about what happened that [music] morning, the morning of September 30th, and that's
01:13:36
Donna herself. >> Everyone wonders if Donna will finally break her silence. >> Uh, Miss Horwit, ultimately the decision
01:13:46
to testify or not to testify is your call. I woke up to shooting and screaming. >> In this Shakespearean drama where an
01:14:04
alleged murderous mother has accused her own son of killing his own father. >> I didn't, you know, I didn't do this.
01:14:14
>> Long hours of questioning takes its toll. I I just I want to get through this, but I'm just, you know,
01:14:21
>> a little burned out. >> Prosecutor Altha McRoberts knew she had to save her star witnesses reputation.
01:14:29
>> On the morning of the homicide of your father, did you ever go to any bathroom,
01:14:34
any faucet, anywhere in that house and cleans clean yourself off? >> Absolutely not.
01:14:39
>> Mr. Horowitz, finally, did you hire anyone to kill your father? >> Absolutely not.
01:14:44
>> And did you yourself kill your dad? Absolutely not. >> There were only three of us in that
01:14:50
house and only two walked out alive. So, who else is he going to blame? >> All right. So, everybody have a seat.
01:14:58
>> When it came time for Donna to take the stand and openly accuse her son of murder, she declined.
01:15:06
>> Miss Horowitz, it is your decision right now that you do not want to testify in
01:15:10
this matter. Am I correct? >> That is correct. >> All right. Has anybody forced you to to
01:15:15
make that decision? >> No, sir. >> It is completely your call. Is that correct? >> That is correct.
01:15:24
>> Bradley wasn't in the courtroom to hear his mother speak. >> So, I, you know, did my day of of
01:15:30
testimony and I left. Why the hell would I want to be around those people? The woman Radley blames for pushing his
01:15:38
mother over the edge, Francine Ty, was never called to testify. She made her first appearance in court to hear
01:15:47
closing arguments. >> Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. 10 times on a naked man when he's in the shower. The last
01:15:56
one in the mouth is the shot of an angry, angry woman. Love, hate, and obsession can bring a person to kill and
01:16:05
it can bring a person to frame their own son. Thank you. >> This is a case about jumping to
01:16:15
conclusions. >> Great Tesh hammers back. >> There's no fingerprints. There's no DNA
01:16:21
matching her. A third party, we know beyond every doubt, left his DNA and that bloody smudge on
01:16:30
the gate. Not only is she not guilty, she's actually innocent. >> And with that, the jury goes out to
01:16:45
deliberate, but not for long. in less than two hours. >> Jurors, I've understand you reached a
01:16:51
verdict. Is that correct? >> I'm thinking I won the case. >> We find the defendant guilty of
01:16:57
first-degree murder with a >> shock, disappointment. I put my hand on her to try to console her, but you know what?
01:17:06
Do you say I think her lawyer was a schmuck? >> Though betrayed by his own mother,
01:17:12
Bradley doesn't want her behind bars. >> You were hoping for not guilty. >> Yes. But if they said not guilty, then
01:17:19
your name is mud in this community because they've convinced your fellow citizens that you're the killer.
01:17:26
>> Yeah, but my mom would have been out and free. >> Sentencing was immediate and
01:17:32
unforgiving. >> Defense, I have no discretion in the matter. So, I adjudicate her guilty. I
01:17:38
impose a life sentence. >> Life in prison with no chance for parole. It's such a huge immense feeling of
01:17:48
relief and to have the family there to be able to see justice for the murder of their beloved brother.
01:17:56
>> Couldn't have done it without you and couldn't have done it without you. >> My brother
01:18:02
was very special. Almost 2 years after the murder, on what would have been Lanny's 68th birthday,
01:18:13
his family [music] and friends take to the sea to pay tribute. >> I miss his true and honest friendship.
01:18:21
>> And Francine Ty spoke about the man she knew. Today, in celebration of my friend
01:18:27
Lanny's life on Earth, let us all never forget this most amazing and incredible human being who is always there for all
01:18:36
of us, no matter what. Lanny, you will never be forgotten and you will always be missed forever. My dear friend, may
01:18:44
you now please rest in peace and grace. And together with Marsha, they set Lanny's ashes free in the Florida
01:18:56
waters. I've still got uh some pretty mixed feelings. I mean, there's not a day that I don't
01:19:12
think of of my mother and where she is right now. >> Though betrayed by his mother, Bradley
01:19:18
forgives her. He has visited Donna in prison many times. >> Has your mother ever just looked you in
01:19:24
the eye and said, "I am so sorry." >> Just that she loves me very much and she's so sorry for everything.
01:19:31
>> Donna now wishes the best for her son. >> I love you and I'm very proud of you and
01:19:37
I pray daily that you will stay strong, healthy, and happy. Love always and forever, Mom.
01:19:47
She was great. She was always there for me. She was a huge huge part of of my daughter's life.
01:19:52
>> You see any lizards? Anything good? >> No. >> Jealousy, murder, betrayal, a once
01:20:01
picture perfect family destroyed. You know, he um died with his eyes open. And I mean, my
01:20:09
father did some really, really awful stuff to me and to my mother, but uh still seeing [music] that just um just
01:20:18
shook me up. You know, nobody deserved to uh to die the way that he did. 4 years after being found guilty of
01:20:32
killing her ex-husband Lanny, a very differentl looking Donna Horwitz returned [music] this past spring to a
01:20:38
West Palm Beach courtroom. She had won the right to have a new trial after an appellet court [music] overturned her
01:20:44
conviction and life sentence. The court ruled that Donna's right to remain silent had been violated during
01:20:53
closing arguments when prosecutor Althia McRoberts told the jury that Donna had refused to speak to police at the crime
01:21:01
scene. >> The officers, they thought this was a suicide call. They're over there trying
01:21:05
to console Donna and she says nothing. There is no right to remain silent at that time. You can take that as evidence
01:21:12
of consciousness of guilt. The Supreme Court of Florida agreed the jury should never have heard this. And so Donna got
01:21:19
a new trial. There was no change in the prosecution's case against a now 70-year-old Donna
01:21:29
Horwitz. >> Once again, McRoberts relied heavily on those journal entries. >> Lanny said if he knew how Fran felt
01:21:39
about him, he may not have gotten back with me. McRoberts again argued that Donna had murdered her ex-husband Lanny
01:21:48
out of anger and jealousy over his alleged relationship with former business associate Francine Ty, who
01:21:55
testified about her relationship at this trial. Francine listened from the stand,
01:22:02
smiling awkwardly as a voice message she left on Lanny's phone was played in open
01:22:08
court. You >> might want to meet for a drink or you want to come over for a quickie. Take
01:22:12
care, buddy. >> Yeah, it was the drink with cookie. That was the drink when it come to drink.
01:22:18
>> She didn't say drink more cookie. >> Whatever I said, that's what it meant. Don't put words into my mouth, please.
01:22:24
>> Okay, stop. >> But Francine continues to deny that their relationship was romantic.
01:22:31
>> Man is divorced 11 years. Why would I say come over a cookie? What? But the defense tried to mark Francine
01:22:41
as [music] a new suspect, suggesting she had a financial motive. Both Francine and Bradley were beneficiaries of
01:22:49
Lanny's life insurance policy. >> Now, the $200,000 that Lanny left you, you didn't know after he died, did you?
01:22:57
>> I absolutely did not know. >> And the defense attorney gets Francine to admit she had a permit for a
01:23:04
concealed weapon and knew how to use a gun. You said weapons permanent would require you to get training in how to
01:23:11
fire a firearm. >> Yes. >> But would any of this matter to the jury? In closing, McRoberts referenced
01:23:17
the day of Lanny's murder in September of 2011. >> Donna Horwitz on September 30th
01:23:25
had had enough. It was over and she now knew it. >> After a 4-day trial and an initial
01:23:32
deadlock, the jury reached a verdict. We find the defendant guilty of seconddegree murder, a lesser included
01:23:39
crime. >> This time, Donna was convicted of second, not firstdegree murder. >> Please rise. Come to order. Court's back
01:23:49
in session. >> At her sentencing just last week, prosecutor McRoberts asked for the
01:23:55
maximum sentence life. >> She's accepted zero responsibility, zero remorse. While Donna's defense
01:24:02
[music] team gave an argument for leniency, >> we have to look at, I think, the whole
01:24:08
person. What we look at here is kind of a history of Donna Horowitz being a great mother, a great daughter, a great
01:24:15
grandmother. >> The judge agreed that Donna didn't fit the profile of a typical killer.
01:24:21
>> She is an older woman who by all accounts has been sweet and loving throughout her life.
01:24:27
>> I don't know what snapped in you that day. I really don't. But that didn't save her from a stiff sentence.
01:24:33
>> I hereby sentence you to 32 years in the Department of Corrections. >> 32 years with 6 years time served. At
01:24:42
her age, virtually a life sentence. Donna could get out after serving 25 years, but she would be in her 90s.
01:24:51
Bradley now lives outside of the US, but came back to see his mother [music] sentenced yet again. I still can't help
01:24:59
but feel a little bad for my mom. No matter what happens in life, just bite your tongue and hold your temper
01:25:06
cuz it it doesn't take much to uh to push some people over the edge. [music] [music]
01:25:30
>> [music] [music] >> Now, a special two-part edition of 48 Hours. >> [music] >> Murderers come in all [music] shapes and
01:26:02
sizes and ages. Didn't matter how young she was, how pretty she was, how smart she was, she
01:26:12
wanted to kill him. She intended to kill him. >> K County 911. Ma'am, I have I I killed my boyfriend in self-defense.
01:26:27
>> Okay. Where are you? >> I'm standing about 10 ft from his dead body. >> Okay.
01:26:35
>> On October 12th of 2012, which was a Friday night, Shanny Ubers had called the police and said that she had killed
01:26:42
her boyfriend in self-defense. I went immediately to the Highland Heights Police Department.
01:26:49
>> You want something to drink? You want some water? She had already been transported there by the first
01:26:53
responders to the scene. >> Okay. What was his name? >> The man that I killed her.
01:27:00
>> Ryan Carter Poston. >> Ryan Poston in 2012 was a 29year-old lawyer. He did mostly civil law.
01:27:13
He was very successful. [music] Um had a very good practice. >> Smart. Oh, so smart. When he walked into
01:27:21
a room, he [music] immediately demanded attention and he got it. He was a very good-looking guy [music] and he had a
01:27:29
very big heart. >> And your name is Shaina. >> Shaina Huber. >> Shaina at the time was a 21-year-old
01:27:38
recently graduated college student from uh the University of Kentucky with a psychology degree. Very, very bright,
01:27:45
smart individual. And and obviously she was very pretty, too. They were together for a few months at a
01:27:51
time and then they were apart for some time period. >> To say that their relationship was on
01:27:56
and off would probably be an understatement. It was a roller coaster. >> He was throwing me around the room like
01:28:04
picking me up and like had my face and stuff. >> I was in an adjoining room with a video
01:28:09
monitor so I was watching this live. >> Pulled me by the ponytail of my hair >> and she talked non-stop.
01:28:14
>> If you go to jail, are you allowed to keep your phone? Hour after hour, >> I knew he was violent. I knew he was
01:28:21
crazy. >> 2 hours and 40 something minutes, I believe. >> I had my head banged into a few
01:28:26
different things tonight. >> The facts and the evidence did not support her claim of self-defense.
01:28:35
>> Picking me up and throwing me the bookshelf and call me a hillbilly. >> My name is Michelle Snodgrace. I am the
01:28:45
prosecutor in the case against Shaina Hubers. [laughter] >> I really love her. >> She was putting on a show.
01:28:57
>> She was dancing. >> She was laughing. >> She was snapping her fingers and saying,
01:29:04
"I did it. >> I did. Yes, I did." >> It was like an evening [music] with Shaina Hubers, like on Broadway. I have
01:29:13
never seen someone who was so desperate [music] to tell her story to anyone who would
01:29:19
listen. >> Can I talk to you? Can I have somebody to talk to? >> I never saw one emotion that would have
01:29:27
indicated remorse. >> I had guns laying on the table. >> If she was that afraid, she could go out
01:29:33
the door. >> Is your daughter a murderer? [music] >> Shaina Hubers is not a murderer. No, she
01:29:41
is not. Are you sure that he is dead? >> He's dead, man. He's completely dead. >> Okay.
01:30:26
>> I think about him every day. You don't think something like that is ever going to happen to someone you
01:30:33
know. Matt Herren still struggles to make sense of what happened the night of October 12th, 2012 when his close friend
01:30:43
Ryan Poston was killed. >> Is there something I could have done that could have prevented that? And I
01:30:50
know a lot of people in his life had to have felt the same way. How did things spiral so out of control between Ryan
01:30:58
and his girlfriend Shaina Hubers that she shot him to death, insisting it was to protect herself?
01:31:08
What was lost when your friend was shot and killed? He's the type of person that you want in
01:31:15
your life. Not just a friend, but a loving son. a protective, adoring older brother. He
01:31:28
had three younger sisters that he absolutely adored. Ryan's family was close-knit, even
01:31:36
though his parents divorced when he was little. He was extremely close to his father, Jay Poston. And when his mother
01:31:44
remarried to Peter Carter, Ryan thought of him as a second father. He had two men who loved him like a son. He wanted
01:31:56
to express how big of a role both of those men played in his life. So he had his middle name legally changed to
01:32:04
Carter. He was very proud of that. >> What did he want to do and what did you see him doing in the years ahead?
01:32:11
>> You know, I used to joke that I would run his first political campaign for him
01:32:15
for free. >> Hi, baby. Sarah Robinson, who grew up with Shaina in Lexington, Kentucky, says Shaina's
01:32:23
future seemed promising as well. >> And how smart was she? >> I thought she was close to genius in my
01:32:31
opinion. I mean, she always was in AP classes, always getting A's and everything.
01:32:38
>> Shaina received countless awards for academic excellence and leadership. >> She liked to succeed at anything and
01:32:45
everything that she did. And that included music and drama. >> Was she a good actress?
01:32:51
>> She thought she was. >> Sarah says back in high school, Shaina also had a real flare for the dramatic
01:32:58
when it came to boys. >> If a guy like broke up with her or something or if a guy just said they
01:33:05
weren't interested in her, she would take it pretty hard, crying and maybe a little screaming. She didn't really like
01:33:11
to let things go. It was a side of Shaina Ryan would come to know all too well. Shaina went to school in Lexington, more
01:33:20
than 80 miles away from Ryan's condo in Highland Heights. The two probably never
01:33:27
would have met if it weren't for Facebook. He spotted provocative photos of her and they started dating in the
01:33:34
spring of 2011. He was 28 and a lawyer. She was 19 and a college student. >> And was she happy?
01:33:44
>> Um, yeah. She seemed to be happy. I mean, she never said that there was anything wrong in the relationship. She
01:33:50
was just always there. >> But according to Ryan's friend, Ally Wagner, there was plenty wrong right
01:33:56
from the start. >> How did Shaina react when she first met you? >> She was so cold. You could just
01:34:02
immediately tell that she was just obsessed with him. I think she had a goal in the beginning to make him settle
01:34:10
down with her and when she wasn't becoming successful that became a problem. >> He was very busy with work. He wasn't
01:34:18
really looking for anyone. He had tried to end things uh a few times. >> But Ryan was having a tough time getting
01:34:27
Shaina to let go. Shaina admitted in a text to a friend. He says he's only with me because I make him feel so awful
01:34:36
about it when I cry. >> He didn't want to hurt her feelings. Unfortunately, she just refused to take
01:34:44
no for an answer. >> And so the two were [music] on again, off again for 18 months.
01:34:52
>> She would come by his place when she was in town >> to show up unannounced. >> Absolutely.
01:35:00
As Shaina became more possessive, Ryan's exasperation and concern grew. In a text
01:35:07
to his cousin, he wrote, "This is getting to be restraining order level crazy. She shown up at my condo like
01:35:14
three times and refuses to leave each time." He also complained about Shaina's obsessive behavior in a Facebook message
01:35:23
to Ally. Literally probably the craziest person I have ever met. She almost scares me. I wish I had said if she
01:35:32
scares you or if she's crazy, just walk away. >> Instead, he kept taking her back.
01:35:39
>> I think it was playing mind games with her. >> Ryan's neighbor Nikki KS claims there's
01:35:44
another side to this turbulent relationship. Shaina complained to her that Ryan was emotionally abusive. She
01:35:52
would always tell me that he would say she needed a boob job or a face lift and um that she was fat, she needed to lose
01:36:00
some weight. >> Why wouldn't she have left? >> I guess because she was young and she
01:36:05
always told me she loved him. She picked up his laundry. She did his laundry. She
01:36:10
took his dog out. Um she went and bought him food. She did everything for him. >> Could there have been a Ryan that you
01:36:18
didn't know? >> No. someone that had a dark side. >> No. In the 10 years I knew him, never
01:36:25
once raised his voice. He's always been the same. Super nerdy, super sweet. Ryan hoped Shaina had finally gotten the
01:36:35
message when he told her he wasn't going to see her that weekend of October 12th,
01:36:40
2012. What he didn't tell her was that he had a date with a worldass beauty. Ohio.
01:36:51
>> Audrey Boly, Miss Ohio USA 2012, whom he also met on Facebook, >> but he did tell Ally, a former beauty
01:37:01
pageant contestant herself, who knew Audrey. >> She's very beautiful, very personable,
01:37:07
and all that kind of stuff. So, Ryan was the perfect match for her. He was really
01:37:12
excited to go. >> Ryan and Miss Ohio were supposed to meet at a bar that Friday night.
01:37:19
But Shaina showed up at his condo and Ryan never made it. >> He beat me and tried to carry me out of
01:37:26
the house and I came back in to get my things and he was right in front of me and he reached down and grabbed the gun
01:37:31
and I grabbed it out of his hand and pulled pulled the trigger. >> And how long ago did you shoot him?
01:37:38
>> I don't know, 15 10 minutes. Not even that long. Like >> 10 or 15 minutes ago.
01:37:44
>> Yeah. someone shooting someone and then waiting 15 minutes to call. That in itself was bizarre.
01:37:52
>> Lieutenant Dave Fornach and his partner were the first to arrive on the scene.
01:37:58
>> I want you to go to your front door. I want you to open it up. Walk outside the
01:38:02
door with your hands in front of you. >> Okay, I will in your hand. >> We instruct her to get on the ground. As
01:38:08
I entered the apartment, I saw Ryan Poston's body on the floor in the dining room behind the dining room table.
01:38:14
Police escorted Shaina to the station knowing she had shot Ryan to death >> and I picked up the gun. But was it to
01:38:22
save her life? Or had she entered Ryan's condo with a plan to take his even seasoned investigators could never
01:38:43
have imagined what would unfold in the hours after Shane Hubers killed Ryan Poston.
01:38:51
It was crazy. You just wouldn't believe it. >> From the moment Lieutenant Dave Fornash
01:38:56
brought her into that interrogation room, Shaina's behavior was bizarre. >> Do you smoke?
01:39:02
>> I will. >> As he started to leave, she started making noise as if she was crying or
01:39:08
trying to cry or wailing. >> I'm leaving just a second. You're fine. >> As soon as he walked out of the room,
01:39:14
she stopped immediately. Police Chief Bill Burkenhower was immediately suspicious.
01:39:20
>> Like a light switch. >> Exactly. >> And what are you thinking when you see that?
01:39:25
>> Right off the bat, I'm thinking that she's, you know, pretending. She wasn't crying. No tears came out of her eyes.
01:39:31
>> Says you have the right to remain silent. >> Shaina was then read her rights and
01:39:36
although she asked to see a lawyer, >> I do want an attorney. >> Okay. So, I can't ask you any questions
01:39:40
at all. >> She found it impossible. I was so out of it >> to remain silent. >> I was like, "He's in self-defense, black
01:39:47
killer, and can you come to the scene?" >> Shaina talked constantly. >> I was raised really, really Christian
01:39:54
and murderer. >> It just seemed like she was constantly just babbling. >> You have very pretty teeth. Did you have
01:40:01
an orthodontia? >> Did she talk so much that the officers were wanting to leave the room?
01:40:05
>> I had to go to jail. Can you shower there or do you just get really dirty? They were switching off so they wouldn't
01:40:12
get burned out. >> What are they going to do with me? >> I don't know. They just told me come
01:40:16
here and sit with you. >> For almost 3 hours, Shaina told anyone who would listen about an alleged
01:40:24
history of abuse by Ryan. >> He's pulled guns on me as jokes before. >> Leading up to a fight in which she says
01:40:32
she feared for her life. and I shot him in self-defense because he's done stuff before where I've hit my head on a
01:40:38
headboard, >> okay, >> and could die. >> But the more she talked, the more her words would come back to haunt her.
01:40:47
>> This story never stayed the same. >> Beginning with exactly how Ryan's gun ended up in her hands.
01:40:54
>> He was screaming at me, telling me I was Ellie that he hates me. By all accounts,
01:41:01
Ryan, who owns several guns and was licensed to carry, had a habit of placing his handgun on the dining room
01:41:08
table after coming home from work. >> And I just picked up the gun and in the middle of him
01:41:17
doing something with his arm or saying something crazy, shot him. >> This time she told police that she
01:41:24
picked up the gun off the table while Ryan was yelling at her. But remember, Shaina had told the 911 operator a
01:41:33
different story about wrestling the gun away from him. And he reached down and grabbed the gun and I grabbed it out of
01:41:40
his hand and pulled the pulled the trigger. >> But Shaina didn't stop at one bullet. As
01:41:46
she described the final moments of Ryan's life, the details were beyond disturbing.
01:41:53
And he was laying with his face on the table like twitching. And so I knew he was going to die. And I walked
01:42:06
around the table and I think that's when I shot him in the head. I shot him probably six
01:42:20
times. Shot him in the head. He fell onto the ground. He was like laying like this.
01:42:26
His glasses were still on. He was twitching some more. I shot him a couple more times just to make sure he was dead
01:42:31
cuz I didn't want to watch him die. >> She didn't say that she was worried about him suffering.
01:42:42
She said that she couldn't stand to see that. This is why she finished him off. If someone's wounded on the ground,
01:42:49
someone that you love, wouldn't you attempt [music] to resuscitate to save rather than shoot him
01:42:56
>> or call [snorts] 911? >> Instead, Shaina admitted she waited at least 10 minutes to call for help.
01:43:05
>> If we were to pause right now for 10 minutes, it would be interminable to this audience how long a period of time
01:43:12
that is. and she's not calling 911. Why do you believe that's the case? >> If he was to live, then he would have a
01:43:20
story to tell. He was helpless. >> Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass. >> He laid there helpless and she walked
01:43:28
over and shot him again and again and again. That's not self-defense. >> I knew he was going to die or have a
01:43:36
completely deformed face. He's very vain and wants to get a nose job. just that kind of person. And I shot him right
01:43:44
here. >> I gave him his nose job if he wanted. >> My jaw hit the floor and I said to
01:43:49
myself, "Did she really say that?" >> And Shaina had plenty more to say. >> I did.
01:43:55
>> Yeah, I did. >> Even when Shaina wasn't speaking, her action spoke volumes to the
01:44:02
investigators who were watching from the other room. Not only did she dance and twirl,
01:44:14
She even sang Amazing Grace. >> How do you respond to what we're looking at here is a woman in shock.
01:44:27
>> Someone who is in shock does not pureette. Within hours of putting six bullets into
01:44:34
Ryan Poston and watching him die, she danced and sang. Here's what's going to happen right now,
01:44:41
Shaya. Okay. With everything that we have, um, we're going to I'm going to char I'm going have to charge you with
01:44:47
murder. >> Shaina Hubers was arrested for murder. >> What degree? >> Murder. There's no degree.
01:44:53
>> Ryan had been shot six times. >> Pretty much every side of his body he'd been shot at.
01:45:00
>> Doesn't that fit someone who fears for her life at that moment that she's being
01:45:04
attacked, that she has to use excessive force to put down the threat? It it it more likely indicates somebody who's
01:45:13
very angry. >> The investigation was far from over. Shaina claims Ryan had a dangerous
01:45:20
temper and she can prove it. The chessboard today is how it was on the day Ryan died midame
01:45:42
with the pieces unchanged from where it was then. >> Ryan Poston's friend, mentor, [music]
01:45:48
and chess rival attorney Ken Holly relished those competitive matches that would sometimes stretch out over days.
01:45:56
and I haven't been able to let it go really. >> But now that chessboard sits in his
01:46:04
office, frozen in place, a metaphor for a life cut short. >> When somebody is erased at an early age
01:46:14
like that and you know what has the world lost by not having the benefit of what they would have come to be? Ken and
01:46:22
his legal assistant, Lorie Zimmerman, had offices in the same building as Ryan. They witnessed Shaina's obsessive
01:46:30
behavior and the toll it took on him. >> If she couldn't get him on his cell phone, she'd call the receptionist and
01:46:37
ask for him or she'd show up here. Um, I mean, it was relentless. >> She would text him 50 to 100 times a
01:46:46
day. She would just wear him down and exhaust him to the point where he would say, "Okay, Shaina." And he just kept
01:46:53
doing the easy thing, which was staying with her. >> When Ryan left work for the last time
01:47:00
the evening of October 12th, 2012, he told Lorie about his big date, >> and he said with a big smile on his
01:47:09
face, "I have a date with Miss Ohio tonight." >> Ohio. His news gave Lori an uneasy feeling
01:47:17
about Shaina. >> And I said, "I I'm very nervous about what you're doing tonight because I who
01:47:24
knows what Shaina will do. You need to get her gone. I need you to call the police. I need you to call a locksmith.
01:47:30
I need you to make it very final." And and that was when he said, "Hey, Lori, I've got this. Don't you worry about
01:47:37
me." >> Hours later, Ryan was dead. I knew she was a stalker. I thought that she was perfectly capable of causing a
01:47:48
scene, but murder. What do you think happened the night he died? >> I think that she went over there, tried
01:47:56
to talk him out of breaking up with her. >> Ryan's friend, Ally Wagner, >> and I think he just stood his ground for
01:48:04
the first time. I think he just said, "No, like this isn't working." I think she picked up the gun and shot him.
01:48:12
>> In her mind, this was a failure of sorts. And Shaina didn't fail. Shaina Hubers is someone who is used to getting
01:48:21
her way. >> The movie Fatal Attraction comes to mind. >> You won't answer my calls. You change
01:48:27
your number. I mean, I'm not going to be ignored. Dan, >> he was trying to break up with her, and
01:48:33
I think that Shaina was not going to be broken up with. Chief Burkenhower says the proof is in an astonishing trove of
01:48:41
texts and emails investigators discovered in numbers unlike anything they'd ever seen.
01:48:49
>> Hundreds of thousands of messages. >> Hundreds of thousands. >> Yes. And most of the messages were from
01:48:56
Shaina. For every one message Ryan sent, she probably sent 50. She couldn't stop
01:49:04
herself. Here it was, a look inside this tortured relationship. Back in February of 2012, 8 months
01:49:14
before Ryan's death, he wrote Shaina, "You can tell people you broke up with me." Part of her reply, "I love you
01:49:22
dearly, far more than you deserve." Then in March, Ryan pleaded, "Shaina, stop texting me." And in April, he texted, "I
01:49:33
no longer have the patience to deal with you." >> Now, Ryan's a bright guy. He's a lawyer.
01:49:40
Why didn't he get a restraining order? >> Well, under the law in Kentucky, he didn't qualify for a restraining order.
01:49:46
The law in Kentucky basically requires the two to have been living together or to have been married.
01:49:53
>> Instead, Ryan tried to take matters into his own hands. Another text in April.
01:50:00
this time from Ryan to his cousin. She came to my place on Sunday morning and I literally had to pick her up and throw
01:50:08
her into the hall. Still, Ryan just couldn't close the door on their relationship.
01:50:15
The two were back together that summer, but things soured again in late August. And Ryan texts Shaina, "I'm turning off
01:50:25
the phone and padlocking the door." And then she keeps texting. And there are at
01:50:28
least 100 messages until finally it's some 9 hours later under this barrage. Ryan says, "I'm not reading any of
01:50:40
these. Stop." What does that tell you about Shaina's behavior? >> Well, this goes back to she's obsessed
01:50:47
with Ryan Poston. >> Shaina once again showed up at his door. She had her own key. Ryan had to leave
01:50:57
his own condo and leave Shane in there and go spend the night with his father because she would not leave and she
01:51:02
continued arguing with him. >> While the prosecution [music] insists Ryan was the one being stalked and
01:51:10
living in fear. >> Shaina told police that at times she was also afraid of him. >> He keeps loaded guns in the house. Has
01:51:20
picked up a gun, pointed it at my face as a joke. What would you do if I >> A lot of information is going to come
01:51:28
out about this relationship and about what happened that night. >> Defense attorney John Paul Ryan.
01:51:33
>> This was not a case of anything but self-defense. This was a case where Shaina was acting to save her own
01:51:40
dignity and her own safety. The defense team claims there are plenty of Facebook messages Ryan sent his
01:51:49
friends that show he was a young man consumed by anger. He'd had a falling out with his ex- law partner who was
01:51:57
suing him. >> August 16th, 2012, less than 2 months before he was shot and killed. He says,
01:52:05
"And I want to rig explosives to everything I see." Well, I don't think anybody's denying that Ryan wasn't going
01:52:12
through an emotional time. He was upset about being sued by his former law partner. His rage was never in any of
01:52:21
these messages directed at Shaina Hubers. Not one. >> October 4th, 2012, Ryan writes this.
01:52:29
There's nothing I want more than to just scorch the effing earth and leave this entire city in a pile of burnt rubble.
01:52:38
He's fantasizing about doing a violent act. And just days later, according to Shaina, he attacks her.
01:52:46
>> But that wasn't a violent act directed to any person. You have to put it in context. He does not say he wants to
01:52:52
hurt a person. >> Pressure is building up. He's got a girlfriend that won't let go. He finally
01:52:58
snaps. Why shouldn't we believe that? >> There's no evidence at the crime scene to indicate that Ryan Poston went after
01:53:04
Shane Ubers. Nothing was knocked over. No signs of a struggle. >> None. >> Are you buying this notion of
01:53:11
self-defense at all? >> Not one bit. Not one bit. >> These photos of Shaina taken after her
01:53:19
arrest show some light bruising, but police still insist there's no evidence of a life or death struggle.
01:53:28
Now, the young woman suspected of cold-blooded murder heads to court to ask a judge to let her out of jail.
01:53:37
[music] This case was always to me about a senseless [music] act. senseless. Could
01:53:57
never quite make sense of what happened on October 12th. I could never make sense of why Ryan Poston's life was
01:54:05
ended. [music] >> Why couldn't Shaina Hubers, a brilliant and beautiful grad student, simply walk
01:54:13
away from her troubled relationship with Ryan Poston? >> I think it's really sad. It's just it's
01:54:22
kind of heartbreaking. Shaina's childhood friend, Sarah Robinson, barely recognizes the sweet, kind-hearted girl
01:54:30
she once knew. >> I saw a mug shot. That was, I think, the first thing that I saw that really made
01:54:38
me take a step back and just be like, "Oh my god." >> What did it look like? >> It looked like someone was who was angry
01:54:45
and like someone who had just been through hell. >> It is June 10th, 2014. Almost 2 years
01:54:53
since Ryan's death. Shaina has remained in jail the entire time. She has hired a
01:55:00
new defense team led by David Mahia. At a bail hearing, they are joined by Shaina's mother, Sharon Hubers.
01:55:09
>> Shaina was in the gifted and talented program in the >> Sharon, a retired school teacher, is
01:55:16
proud of her child's academic success. She graduated kum lad in three years at the University of Kentucky. Shaina was
01:55:25
pursuing a master's degree in school guidance counseling at the time of this tragedy.
01:55:31
>> And what do you want people to know after reading that? What do you want them to know in relation to this case?
01:55:37
Shaina Hubers is not a child, a girl, a person that would murder someone that would
01:55:49
wake up and say, "Okay, I'm going to shoot somebody. And I want the world to know who Shaina is, and I want them to
01:55:57
hear it from her mother." Through Sharon's testimony, we also learn about the 24 hours leading up to
01:56:06
Ryan's death. Thursday, October 11th, 2012, the night before Ryan died. >> Welcome to the first and only vice
01:56:17
presidential debate. >> The vice presidential candidates were slugging it out in a televised debate.
01:56:23
Ryan brought Shaina over to his mother and stepfather's place to watch it. and then she slept over at his condo.
01:56:32
>> He wants to break up with her. Talk about mixed signals. Why is she staying the night at his place?
01:56:40
>> That is a question that I think a lot of people want an answer to. I don't know
01:56:45
if it was part of Ryan's attempt to let her down easy. I I just don't know. >> Ryan had already said he didn't want to
01:56:54
see her that weekend. Perhaps that's why a distraught Shaina called her mother from Ryan's shortly after 3:00 a.m.
01:57:03
>> Was she emotional, upset? >> Yes, she she wanted mama and yes, she was I knew something was wrong.
01:57:11
>> Sharon says she met up with her daughter at Ryan's place around 5:30 that morning.
01:57:17
>> When he woke up, he saw that Shaina Huber's mom was inside his condo. Shaina's mom was inside his condo.
01:57:26
>> Absolutely. >> Had come in on her own >> in the middle of the night. Had driven
01:57:30
from Lexington to sit with her daughter. >> She wanted to lay on the couch and put
01:57:36
her feet in my lap. And she did. >> Shaina's relationship with her mother. What was that like?
01:57:44
>> I think she was very close to her mom. I think her mom for a good portion of her
01:57:49
life could have very well been her best friend. That child has been a blessing to me. She's my whole life.
01:57:55
>> Sharon Hubers would like her daughter to be released to her custody, but prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass believes
01:58:02
Shaina is a flight risk because of what she told police. >> Part of me wanted to get my keys and get
01:58:09
in the car and leave because I knew that word against his dead. You know, how is anyone else to
01:58:17
know that it's self-defense? To get bail, Shaina needs to convince the judge that she's not a flight risk and despite
01:58:25
shooting Ryan, not a threat to society. On the stand, she paints a picture of herself as a model girlfriend.
01:58:34
>> Ryan was going through a lot and he needed moral support and I was always good to him.
01:58:40
>> But she also suggests she had a reason to fear him, claiming Ryan was obsessed
01:58:46
with guns. Wherever you were in the house, you were always at an arm's length from a gun or a weapon of some
01:58:52
sort. And >> that concerned you? >> Oh, yes. You know, just laying everywhere. He'd pick one up and shoot a book on a
01:59:00
shelf or something and did that with Shaina in the condo on numerous occasions. >> Is it true that Ryan on at least one
01:59:10
occasion did target practice inside his own condo? We don't know if he did target practice inside his own condo. We
01:59:16
do know that there was a book that had, you know, wood on it and and some holes.
01:59:22
>> Bullet holes. >> Yes. >> He was always very careful in his handling of firearms.
01:59:28
>> Ryan's friend Matt Haron insists he was a responsible gun owner. Uh, it was never something that I worried about,
01:59:38
>> but Shaina insists she was worried enough to shoot Ryan in self-defense and she thought that when she explained it
01:59:45
to police that night, they would release her. >> I believed in my innocence and I wanted
01:59:50
to see my mother and go home. >> Now, the witness stand is about to turn into the hot seat.
01:59:58
>> He told you he needed to not be around you. Didn't he say that? Ryan Poston's volatile relationship with
02:00:14
Shaina Hubers had become a house of mirrors. Nothing was as it appeared. His friend Lorie Zimmerman says that while
02:00:23
the couple appeared to have reconciled in the weeks before his death, their romance was rocky.
02:00:30
He wasn't happy about dating Shaina Hubers again. From the very start, he was working to not date Shaya Hubers
02:00:37
anymore. >> Ryan's neighbor, Nikki KS, says from what she witnessed in the months leading
02:00:42
up to Ryan's death, the relationship was toxic. >> I was awoken out of my sleep by some
02:00:49
screaming and yelling outside and they were arguing. This is something that was like happened quite often.
02:00:56
>> Was this a nasty argument? >> Yeah. Everyone has a breaking point. Had Ryan reached his?
02:01:04
>> I think Shaina reached hers. >> Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass believes rejection and rage sent Shaina over the
02:01:13
edge. Snodgrass confronts her about Ryan's repeated attempts to break up with her.
02:01:20
>> Did he invite you over? >> Which night? >> Well, let's say the night you put six
02:01:25
bullets in him. How about that night? Did he invite you over that night? They'd broken up time and time again and
02:01:32
gotten back together. Why did she get violent this time? >> That's a good question. I think that she
02:01:38
believed it was over for good and she wasn't going to have that. >> The fireworks continue at the bail
02:01:46
hearing over Shaina's different accounts of how Ryan's gun ended up in her hands.
02:01:54
You told 911 that you had to grab the gun out of Mr. Poston's hand. Is that correct?
02:02:03
>> I did say that. >> But you told the police something different, didn't you? >> It was a handgun that I used. The gun
02:02:12
was this big. I picked it up off the table. I did have to release the suit. I did. I
02:02:23
remember it now. I can see it in my mind. >> This is a Sig Sauer P238 380 caliber
02:02:30
semi-automatic handgun. This is the weapon that was used in the shooting of Ryan Poston.
02:02:36
She released the safety, pointed the gun at Ryan Poston, and shot him in the right side of the head.
02:02:44
>> Chief Burkenhower believes Shaina's admission that she released the safety on the gun is evidence of premeditation.
02:02:52
I believe as soon as she released the safety, she made the decision that she was going to kill him. It is a sign in
02:02:57
my opinion that she had time to think about it. >> Show me how she released the safety.
02:03:01
>> The safety, which right there, you you can't pull the trigger. In order to make
02:03:05
this gun operate, you have to release the safety. Now, the gun's ready to go and then you just pull the trigger. It
02:03:13
is an extra step that you have to think about. The gun itself also contained critical forensic evidence, a trace of
02:03:22
Ryan's blood. >> And what did that tell you? >> One or more of the shots were so close
02:03:28
to the body when the trigger was pulled, the blood came out and it landed on the
02:03:33
gun. >> Meaning Chief Burkenhower believes that Shaina moved closer to Ryan for the
02:03:40
final kill shots. >> There was never a time after the first shot that he was on his feet. But Shaina
02:03:46
now insists it was Ryan who was moving towards her. Despite what she told police after Ryan's death,
02:03:54
>> he was still moving. He was still coming toward me. First two shots we thought
02:03:59
were firecrackers and then there was four more and then we knew it was gunshots.
02:04:05
>> Ryan's downstairs neighbors, Vernon and Doris West, heard gunshots that night,
02:04:10
but no fight. >> And what was the sequence of the shots? Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.
02:04:18
>> Did either of you hear any arguing in that condo above you? Did you hear any shouting?
02:04:25
>> Never. >> Never. >> Never did. Never did, sir. >> If there had been a fight going on up
02:04:30
there, a physical struggle between the two of them, Shaina being thrown across the floor, would you have heard it?
02:04:37
>> Yes, >> I believe I would. Yes. >> The prosecutor insists that even if Shaina initially thought Ryan was a
02:04:45
danger to her, she didn't need to keep shooting him. >> She had the door behind her with no
02:04:51
obstructions. Why didn't she just go? >> The defense maintains that Kucky's so-called stand your ground law says a
02:05:00
person does not have a duty to retreat prior to the use of deadly physical force. But the prosecutor believes
02:05:07
Shaina's decision to keep shooting proves a murderous intent. >> She knew that Ryan [music] Poston had
02:05:15
somewhere else that he had to be and someone else that he was meeting and she wasn't going to let that happen.
02:05:22
>> In his questioning of Shaina, defense attorney David Mahia turns the table on
02:05:28
the prosecution, driving home Shaina's contention that she had to use deadly force [music] to save herself.
02:05:36
Now, what did you believe would happen if he got out after having been shot twice?
02:05:43
>> He would shoot me. He would hurt me. >> As you well know, Shaina has been portrayed as strangely
02:05:52
obsessive, a liar, a murderer. >> It's been horrible. She grew up in the church. [laughter] She's not a murderer.
02:06:02
>> The word evil has been used to describe your daughter. She's far from evil. Shaina has a heart of gold.
02:06:09
She's like her mommy, a loving spirit. That's what I want the world to know. >> In the end, Judge Fred Stein sets bail
02:06:22
at $1.5 million. Too much for Shaina's parents to afford. Now, as [music] the case heads to trial,
02:06:32
how will the defense team overcome the one witness who could destroy any claims of self-defense?
02:06:39
That witness, [singing] the twirling, singing, loquacious Shaina Hubers. >> If you go to jail, are you allowed to
02:06:48
keep your phone? 48 hours. Don't miss an episode. [music] [music] >> [music] [music]
02:07:40
>> This special two-part edition of 48 Hours continues. news. >> The psalmist were affirm that statement
02:07:56
she about to make be the truth or hold truth. >> I don't know why where in her life
02:08:03
something steered her so wrong to make her become so obsessive. >> Ryan Poston was trying to end the
02:08:11
relationship with Shaina. She was obsessed with him. >> How did Shaina and Ryan meet?
02:08:17
>> They met on Facebook. >> What was the attraction, you think? >> Well, you've seen pictures of them.
02:08:23
They're both beautiful people. And in addition to that, they're both very intelligent.
02:08:30
He was a young lawyer who had a great [music] practice that was starting. He was kind and he was compassionate.
02:08:41
I think she had a goal in the beginning to make him settle down with her. And when she wasn't becoming successful,
02:08:48
that became a problem. >> Ryan was the one that initiated, "I love you, Shaina." I really thought that he
02:08:55
meant it. I I really thought that he did. She wouldn't stop texting him, obsessively texting him, and he would
02:09:05
not respond except to say, "If you do not stop, I'm turning off my phone, and in fact, I'm going to padlock my door."
02:09:13
She showed up unannounced all the time. Ryan said that Shaina was restraining [music] order crazy.
02:09:24
>> K County 911. [music] Ma'am, I have I I killed my boyfriend in self-defense. >> Six shots rang out in this condo. Police
02:09:37
say it was murder, but Shaina Hubers claims she defended herself against a man with a violent temper.
02:09:44
>> He was right in front of me and he reached down and grabbed the gun and I grabbed out of his hand and told the
02:09:50
trigger. >> Orion didn't beat on me every day, but he did put hands on me a handful of
02:09:55
times. She said she gave him the nose job that he wanted. >> I knew he was going to die or have a
02:10:02
completely deformed face. He's very vain and wants to get a nose job. Just that kind of person. And I shot him right
02:10:10
here. I gave him his nose job. He wanted >> I don't know what more you can say after
02:10:17
that. I don't know if anyone will ever want to marry me if they know that I killed a boyfriend and self
02:10:31
[music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Okay. What was his name? >> The man that I killed her. Ryan Carter
02:11:12
Poston. >> [music] >> In April 2015, 2 and a half years after Shaina Huber's gunned down her on-again
02:11:21
off-again boyfriend Ryan Poston, her trial is set to begin. Central to both the prosecution and the
02:11:29
defense [music] will be what Shaina told police. and I just picked up the gun and in the middle
02:11:37
of him doing something with his arm or saying something crazy, shot him. Shaina claims she shot Ryan in
02:11:47
self-defense during a heated confrontation at his condo. Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass contends
02:11:54
that the only person whose life was in danger on October 12th, 2012 was Ryan Poston.
02:12:02
I think in the midst of that, my love turned to hate. >> My love turned to hate. I think at that
02:12:10
point in time, we knew what Shaina Hubers was thinking. And it certainly wasn't that she needed to act out of
02:12:17
fear. She acted out of hate. >> Prosecutors say trouble had been brewing long before that tragic day. Ryan's
02:12:25
cousin, Cararissa Carile, who was also Shaina's friend, testified about the tumultuous relationship.
02:12:33
>> He said to me, "This is getting to be restraining order level crazy. I'm not kidding. You need to talk to her. She
02:12:39
needs help." And I say that without exaggeration. She just really needs help. >> What did you learn about Shaina's
02:12:44
personality? The word obsessive is is a good word for her. An obsession that police chief Bill Burkenhower says can
02:12:54
be seen in the thousands of text messages Shaina sent Ryan. >> We know from text messages back and
02:13:01
forth that when Ryan would end it sometimes Shaina would just show back up and not leave.
02:13:07
>> Refused to leave. >> Yes. Refused to leave. >> By the fall of 2012, investigators
02:13:13
believe Shaina was nearing a breaking point. 11 days before the shooting, Shaina sent a friend an ominous text.
02:13:23
>> She says when she goes to the shooting range with Ryan tonight, she wants to turn around, shoot, and kill him and
02:13:28
play like it's an accident. >> Shaina texted similar disturbing comments [music] to another friend and
02:13:35
sent a gun toing picture. >> She was already making a plan to make sure Ryan did not leave her.
02:13:43
The state believes Shaina confronted him at his condo because Ryan had told her he didn't want to see her that weekend.
02:13:52
Although investigators don't doubt an argument took place, they saw no evidence of the violent struggle Shaina
02:13:59
had described. >> He was throwing me around the room like picking me up and like had my face and
02:14:07
stuff. Shaina claimed Ryan had also thrown her against this bookshelf. >> As you can see, this bookcase is covered
02:14:17
with items that would have shifted that would have been in a different position.
02:14:22
A number of pipes along that shelf, some bullets on this shelf. And if you look at this photograph that shows a little
02:14:30
bit of a closer angle, none of them are disturbed. But what really made investigators skeptical about Shaina's
02:14:38
story, >> I know what happened, right? >> Was her [music] claim that at one point
02:14:42
during their clash, Ryan had locked himself in his bedroom. >> So, what was Miss Huber's Googling how
02:14:49
to do it? >> She first Googled how to unlock a house door with a bobby pin. That was a Google
02:14:55
search. >> She found a way to unlock his bedroom door and get in there. By now, the
02:15:02
argument had moved into the dining room with Ryan on one side of the table and Shaina standing on the other side.
02:15:11
Ryan's loaded handgun was on the table. >> He was screaming at me, telling me I was
02:15:17
Ellie, that he hates me, that he hates my speaking voice. I hate everything about you.
02:15:26
>> The jury would hear Shaina's own account of the shooting. And he was he had his
02:15:30
head on the table and he wasn't completely standing up. He was like this. He was like
02:15:37
>> he was sitting he was enough that when I shot him he was went like this literally. That's when I knew he was
02:15:43
dead or close to it and twitching. >> Despite Shaya's description that Ryan was nearly dead after the first shot.
02:15:51
She went on to shoot him five more times. But the defense maintains Ryan was still a threat. He was moving when
02:15:59
these shots were fired. >> The prosecution doesn't buy it, and they say they have the science to prove it.
02:16:07
>> All right, have a seat. >> Forensic expert Howard Ryan testifies that Shaina's first shot was to Ryan
02:16:14
Poston's head. A significant fact because there was no blood on the front of his shirt. If he was in an upright
02:16:22
position, the gravity would have brought it down straight down the shirt and through the pants through the bottom of
02:16:27
the shirt to the pants. >> Using the very bloodstained table taken from Ryan Poston's condo.
02:16:34
>> How do you think this went down? >> Snodgrass demonstrates why investigators are convinced that Ryan was sitting and
02:16:41
never stood up after the first shot. when she shoots him in the right forehead. At that point in time, his
02:16:48
head goes down on the table. As you can see, this exposes the upper portion of his right back,
02:16:57
which we believe was the second shot. At that same time as well, his right arm is
02:17:02
dangling, which again opens up the area where the third shot occurred, which was
02:17:08
under his right arm. >> And where's his body going? And then at that point in time, Ryan starts [snorts]
02:17:14
to fall out of the chair. He ultimately ends up laying on the floor. >> While Ryan was down on the floor,
02:17:20
Snodgrass says Shaina then finished him off. >> He was helpless. That's not self-defense.
02:17:29
>> And raise your right. >> To bolster their case, the prosecution calls three jail house informants who
02:17:36
befriended Shaina behind bars. Are you a convicted felon? >> Yes. >> Yes, I am. >> Yes, I am.
02:17:45
>> The women who have a history of drug abuse and multiple arrests say they came
02:17:50
forward because Shaina had shown no remorse. They deny receiving any special treatment for their testimony.
02:17:58
>> And what did she say had really happened? >> What really happened? That she was the
02:18:03
aggressor in the fight. She said she was going to plead insanity, but then she she said that she
02:18:10
was too smart because she has an IQ of Einstein and so she's going to plead the wife battered syndrome.
02:18:18
>> Okay. >> And say that he beat her. >> I see no remorse. Um she I she played more the victim
02:18:25
role. >> According to this last informant, Shaina knew that Ryan had a date with this
02:18:32
woman. Ohio. >> Former Miss Ohio USA Audrey Bolty. >> We were going to meet at a local bar and
02:18:42
grab a few drinks and play pool and just have a low-key fun time. Shaina Huber strongly denies she knew about the
02:18:50
planned date. As the state's case winds down, Ryan's parents tell the jury of their profound
02:18:58
loss. >> Ryan was my world. When people would ask me about my child, I wouldn't say that
02:19:04
he was beautiful [music] even though he was or he was brilliant even though he was. I would say my son has a kind
02:19:09
heart. I can tell you one thing. I was the luckiest woman on earth for 30 years.
02:19:17
>> But the defense is about to turn the tables on the prosecution. [music] That child has been a blessing to me.
02:19:40
She's my whole life. My life didn't happen until Shaina was born. >> Retired school teacher Sharon Hubers
02:19:49
can't [music] comprehend how her daughter stands charged with murder. Now she's poised to stand by her only child
02:19:58
as the defense puts on its case. >> Shaina Hubers has never said anything to anybody in this case other than, "I had
02:20:07
to do it to save my life. I did this in self-defense." Defense attorney David Mahia doesn't
02:20:14
deny that Shaina Hubers shot and killed Ryan Poston. But he must now convince the jury that
02:20:24
Ryan was the aggressor that night. >> Is the defense ready to proceed? >> Defense calls Mr. Sharon Hubers.
02:20:31
>> Sharon Hubers. >> Sharon is the first to take the stand. >> Be the truth, the whole truth, and
02:20:38
nothing but the truth. >> Yes, sir. She wants everyone to know about her wonderful daughter.
02:20:44
>> She enrolled at Eastern Kentucky University. She decided she wanted to be a school guidance counselor.
02:20:51
>> In every way, she's been brilliant. >> Sharon then testifies about the time leading up to Ryan's death, describing
02:20:59
that frantic call from her daughter shortly after 3:00 a.m., some 18 hours before Ryan was shot.
02:21:09
Shaina was at Ryan's and complained of chest pains. >> She was sick. She was in pain.
02:21:19
There was fear in her voice. >> Later that day, clearly feeling better, Shaina and her mother went shopping. But
02:21:27
much of that time, Shaina was furiously texting Ryan, writing in part, "I'm being placed on medicine that will help
02:21:35
my blood pressure." And later, I am so thankful that my mom came and took me to the doctor.
02:21:42
>> None of it was true. >> None of it was true. >> Why was she saying these things?
02:21:46
>> To get his sympathy. If he felt sorry for her, then maybe she still had a chance.
02:21:53
>> That evening, Sharon left Shaina in front of Ryan's condo complex. Hours later, she receives another
02:22:02
frantic call. Ryan [music] was dead. She reveals to the jury that Shaina called her first before calling 911.
02:22:14
>> She was hysterical, terrified, in shock. >> What were your words to Shaina? >> Shaina, call 911 and tell them where you
02:22:27
are and exactly what happened. Why would Shaina call mom instead of the police after this traumatic experience
02:22:35
and having to shoot her boyfriend? >> I have no idea why she would do that. This is the only thing that I can
02:22:41
surmise from it is that she was trying to come up with her defense. >> She threw me across the room
02:22:48
and and I was very startled. I was laying on the floor. The night of October 12th, 2012, the defense argues
02:22:57
Ryan Poston had reached his boiling point. >> And he's got a lawsuit confronting him
02:23:02
that he can't take. >> He was being sued by his former law partner. They point to Facebook messages
02:23:11
he sent weeks before he died. >> Referring to the man who's suing him, Ryan writes, "I want this piece of S
02:23:20
destroyed. bury him neck deep at low tide, throw darts at his head. That's a threat.
02:23:29
>> I don't know if it's a threat or if it's a comment about his dislike for the individual that he's talking about.
02:23:34
>> The defense maintains these messages show Ryan had a dangerous temper fueled by drugs he was prescribed.
02:23:44
Eight months before his murder, he wrote to a friend, "The stuff they put me on fills me with rage from what I can tell.
02:23:51
>> He was taking some pretty strong drugs." >> Ryan's friend, Ally Wagner, says Ryan
02:23:56
had turned to the drugs to cope with the stress of the lawsuit. >> He said, "I'm taking Adderall to wake
02:24:02
up, and I'm taking Xanax to go to bed." >> But she insists he was still the same
02:24:07
guy she met 10 years earlier. >> He was still normal. I mean, I saw him the day before he died and he was fine.
02:24:15
>> All right. Would you call your witness, please? >> Dr. Sortani. Say Jordani. >> Now, a toxicologist takes the stand.
02:24:24
>> Sir, if you would have a seat. >> Who says the mixing of those prescription drugs could have
02:24:29
frightening effects. What these drugs do, they basically um cause incidents of behavioral dis control and hostile
02:24:41
outbursts. >> The defense contends Ryan snapped, attacking Shaina. >> And then this look came out of his eyes.
02:24:50
It was like capable of anything. And he takes I think I told you he takes like a
02:24:54
lot of drugs. >> Mahia reminds jurors what he believes happened. that Ryan Poston was standing
02:25:01
and moving when Shaina shot him six times. >> Even Shaina's own words do not support
02:25:12
the theory that was presented in court. She never said that he was standing. >> I walked around the table
02:25:24
and I think that's when I shot him. in the head. I shot him probably six times. Shot him in the head. He fell on
02:25:35
the ground. He was like laying like this. His glasses were still on. He was twitching some more. I shot him a couple
02:25:42
more times just to make sure he was dead. >> Raise your right hand. Do you sound
02:25:46
>> a former medical examiner for the state of Kentucky, Dr. George Nichols, testifies Ryan could still have been a
02:25:53
threat to Shaina even after he was shot. He could move the chest wounds, the front and back wounds, the armpit
02:26:02
wounds, they would not cause him to to lose the ability to walk at least some or move some.
02:26:09
>> Shaina Hubers, the young woman who couldn't stop talking to police, [music] doesn't take the stand, but her attorney
02:26:17
will demonstrate >> the gun is on the table. >> How he believes the shooting went down.
02:26:23
Her statement was, "He reached for the gun and I grabbed it." [music] Self-defense.
02:26:34
[music] [music] As closing arguments begin, defense attorney David Mahia mocks the
02:26:53
prosecution's claim that Shaina Huber's obsession led to Ryan's murder. She keeps calling her boyfriend and he can't
02:27:01
get rid of her. She's a murderer. She keeps hounding him and hounding him with texts and emails. And so she's a
02:27:08
cold-blooded murderer. Are you buying that? Now, in a case that never lacks drama,
02:27:15
>> we're going to take a moment to bring out the table. >> Mahia reenacts Ryan's shooting with Cole
02:27:22
Counsel Rachel Nent playing the role of Shaina Hubers. >> Her statement was he reached for the gun
02:27:31
and I grabbed it. First shot to the head as he's reaching down to her as she's below him. remember.
02:27:42
>> But in a dueling demonstration, >> again, the evidence doesn't lie. >> Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass argues
02:27:49
that Mahia's theory is not supported by the forensic evidence. >> The trajectory was in a downward
02:27:58
downward angle. There is no way that from the ground that that shot occurred. It's just not physically possible.
02:28:08
Snodgrass wants jurors to focus on Shaina's behavior, which she likens to a performance.
02:28:15
>> When the cops walk out of the room, watch what the actress does. >> Do you do you smoke?
02:28:21
>> I will. I'll get your cigarette, too. Just a second. You're fine. >> The minute he walks out of the room, the
02:28:32
crying stops. That's the actress. Within hours of putting six bullets into Ryan Poston and watching him die, she danced
02:28:43
and sang. >> I did. >> Yes, I did. >> She shown us that she's a liar. She shown us that she's a manipulator.
02:28:54
And most importantly, what she showed us on October 12th, 2012 is that she's a murderer.
02:29:02
The case goes to the jury shortly before 6:30 p.m. on April 23rd, 2015. Family and friends anxiously wait as
02:29:15
deliberations go late into the night. Then just before 11:30, a verdict is reached. It is time for Shaina to learn
02:29:25
her fate. We a jury find the defendant Shaina Hubers guilty of murder under >> guilty. 24year-old Shaina Hubers, once a
02:29:38
promising graduate student, is now a convicted murderer. For Ryan's family, there is enormous
02:29:47
relief that justice has been served. For Shaina's mother, there is shock and disbelief. And what was that moment like
02:29:56
for you when you heard guilty? >> That's difficult to explain, Peter, because it I was terrified and and u it
02:30:06
was surreal. It I didn't see how on earth that that it could have been that that could have been the outcome.
02:30:14
[bell] Court reconvenes the next morning as jurors will now hear testimony from both
02:30:21
sides to determine Shaina's sentence. Her lawyers ask the jury for lenience. >> The accomplishments, the good deeds
02:30:31
should not and cannot be ignored. Right. >> Miss Carter, would you raise your right
02:30:35
hand? >> Katie Carter, one of Ryan's sisters, takes the stand to share her heartache.
02:30:42
He made us complete and without him there is always a chair that's going to be empty.
02:30:51
He will never be able to get married. He'll never be able to have kids. He will never be able to have all the
02:31:00
things that he deserved to have in his life. >> It takes the jury only about an hour to
02:31:06
make its recommendation. We the jury fix the defendant Shannon Huber's punishment
02:31:11
for the offense of murder at 40 years confinement in the penitentiary. >> 40 years. The judge will later decide
02:31:21
whether to accept the jury's suggested sentence. [music] For Ryan's parents, it doesn't ease the pain of their loss.
02:31:29
It's >> a shallow victory jury. Our son is dead. said, "I'm so sorry." >> Never for one second did we ever think
02:31:36
that there was any any physical violence from a young man who had a kind and gentle heart.
02:31:42
>> 3 months later, they are back in court for a hearing. >> We are here on a number of issues,
02:31:48
folks. >> The defense wants a shorter sentence for Shaina. So, they're trying to prove that
02:31:54
she was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Ryan. That would make her eligible for parole after serving eight
02:32:02
years. But first, under Kentucky law, the defense must prove the two live together despite what she told police.
02:32:12
>> I don't live with him. >> Okay. Is that his address? >> That's his >> Okay. What's your address, sweetheart?
02:32:16
>> Shaina had an apartment in Lexington, more than 80 miles away. Now she takes the stand trying to convince the judge
02:32:25
she was Ryan's living girlfriend by reading texts the two sent each other. >> Shaina says I'm going to fry boneless
02:32:34
chicken breast for dinner. Does that sound good? Ryan says that sounds good. >> But the prosecutor confronts Shaina with
02:32:42
evidence that she was also seeing other men. No. Were you with 10 other men during that during this whole time that
02:32:49
we're talking about 2012? 10 different men. H >> how are you saying was I with them? Like
02:32:54
are you saying did I was I friends with them? Did I sleep with them? >> You slept with 10 different men during
02:33:01
2012. >> In answer to your question, sure. I may have slept with 10 guys in 2012, but I
02:33:06
don't see how that's relevant to any of the >> The judge finds that Shaina and Ryan
02:33:11
were not domestic partners. It's now up to the judge to issue his final sentence, and the defense will make one
02:33:20
last desperate call. It has been nearly three years since Shaina Huber shot Ryan Poston,
02:33:40
including a final bullet as he helplessly twitched on the floor. >> All right. How many witnesses do each
02:33:48
side propose for sentencing? >> Now, at her sentencing hearing, her defense team wants to make sure the
02:33:56
judge hears about Ryan's alleged history of aggressive behavior. Raise your right
02:34:01
hand. Do you solemnly swear affirm that the statement you're about to make would
02:34:05
be the truth? All truth, nothing. >> Did she ever approach you and discuss with you any acts of violence between
02:34:11
her and Ryan? >> Yes. >> In a story not told at trial. >> They were out there arguing.
02:34:17
>> Ryan's neighbor [music] Nikki KS says a few months before the murder, Shaina came to her in tears. She had came to my
02:34:25
door crying and her arm probably from like here to here. She had a big red mark on her arm. She said that Ryan had
02:34:34
slammed her arm in the door and threw her on the floor in the hallway. >> And when she told you this story, what
02:34:40
did you see on her face? >> She was clearly upset. There were handprints on her arm.
02:34:47
>> But Shaina's cellmate, Holly Nven, testified at trial that Shaina made the whole thing up. And she would purposely
02:34:54
like pull her arms up so the neighbors would see bruises on her arms. >> Did she say how the bruises got there?
02:35:00
>> She inflicted them. >> I'm sorry. >> She inflicted them on herself. >> And sir, I'll remind you you're still on
02:35:07
the roof. All right. >> Defense expert, psychologist Ed Connor, who evaluated Shaina, diagnosed her with
02:35:15
narcissism and low self-esteem. I think Shaina was a person who had extreme difficulty with rejection and and
02:35:24
tolerating it. >> Anything else? >> Let's call Shaina Hubers. >> Hubers, come forward, please.
02:35:33
>> Now it's up to Shaina to convince the judge that somehow she deserves sympathy.
02:35:41
>> It's sad when someone pushes you away and pulls you back in and pushes you away and pulls you back in. There were
02:35:46
times when he had my head going 10 different directions to where I didn't even know if that was my boyfriend or
02:35:53
not or what he was to me. >> Shaina seems filled with resentment. >> I feel like I was let on. I feel like I
02:36:00
was manipulated, used, and abused. And no, Ryan didn't beat on me every day. I'm not I'm not going to sit up here and
02:36:07
exaggerate and lie and say that he did, but he did put hands on me a handful of times. And I guess we're [music] just
02:36:13
>> prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass circles back to what she believes is at the heart of this case.
02:36:20
Rejection. >> Isn't it true that you sat here and you heard Dr. Connor say that you do not
02:36:28
take rejection? Well, >> Dr. Connor did say that I were rejected. Whether it had been earlier in the day
02:36:36
when Ryan told you, I don't want to see you. Whether it was the other times where he said, you know, we're done.
02:36:42
This is it. No more. I need space. You were rejected by him. Not just once, but many times.
02:36:49
>> If I killed Ryan over rejection, he would have been dead. >> Let me ask you what you killed Ryan
02:36:53
over. I asked you if you were rejected by him. >> I've been rejected. I've been rejected.
02:36:59
>> Nothing further, your honor. >> But if that were motive, there'd be a graveyard further, your honor.
02:37:05
>> All right. Did Shaina's plan to persuade the court to be lenient backfire? >> I've never claimed to be perfect.
02:37:14
>> As court reconvenes, she offers an apology for the first time. >> And I'm sorry to my family, and I'm
02:37:21
sorry to my friends for letting them down. I am sorry for the money that my parents have had to spend on attorneys.
02:37:28
>> But the young woman who is diagnosed a narcissist [music] never apologizes to
02:37:34
Ryan's family. Instead, she talks about herself. >> I I do want to help people. I I do want
02:37:41
to be um something better. And I and I do want to continue to grow and learn. And I just
02:37:50
don't think that a 40-year sentence will help me. I don't think it would benefit
02:37:55
me any. I don't think that it would rehabilitate me any. Now it's Judge Fred Stein's turn to
02:38:03
speak and [music] he has some choice words for Shaina. What I think happened in that
02:38:10
apartment was little more than coldblooded murder. It's probably as cold bloodooded an act as I've been
02:38:18
associated with in the criminal justice system in the 30 plus years I've been in
02:38:23
it. >> He upholds the jury's recommended sentence of 40 years. And that's about all there is to say.
02:38:32
>> As Ryan's family leaves the courthouse, [music] they can barely contain their
02:38:37
anger. >> Is there anything you'd want to say to Shaya? >> Oh god, no. Rotten hell.
02:38:43
She is going where she deserves to be. Where she's going, her mommy can't help her.
02:38:48
>> Mommy will always be there. Shaina's mother will never accept that [music] her beloved, brilliant daughter
02:38:56
is anything but a victim who had to defend herself. >> I'll draw my last breath helping that
02:39:03
baby. She doesn't deserve this. She's done nothing wrong. >> But this emotional roller coaster is not
02:39:14
over. One year after Shaina's conviction, there is a [music] dramatic development
02:39:20
no one predicted. >> A judge orders a new trial today for Shaina Hubers. >> Today, she learned she will get a new
02:39:26
trial. >> Shaina is granted a new trial after her lawyer discovers a member of the
02:39:34
original jury was a felon. According to [music] Kentucky law, he should have been barred from serving.
02:39:41
We will jump through as many hoops as we have to jump through to get justice for
02:39:46
my son. If we have to do this a 100 times, we'll do it a 100 times. >> Ryan Poston's family is braced to endure
02:39:54
more painful testimony. And Shaina Hubers is about to show just how far she'll go.
02:40:01
>> Would you raise your right hand? You saw >> to win back her freedom. >> He began beating my body with the door
02:40:08
over and over and over. The Campbell County Grand [music] Jury charges that >> Shaina Huber's second trial begins on
02:40:27
August 14th, 2018, almost 6 years after Ryan Poston's death. >> The defendant committed the offense of
02:40:36
murder. A lot has changed. Shaina is now 27 and married. In a brief jailhouse ceremony
02:40:46
in June, Shaina wed a convicted drug trafficker named Richard McB. The two somehow met at the Campbell County Jail
02:40:55
where they were both locked up. In yet another twist, McB sometimes identifies as a transgender woman named [music]
02:41:04
Unique Taylor. You may recall after killing Ryan, Shaina worried about finding love.
02:41:11
>> I don't know if anyone will ever want to marry me if they know that I killed a
02:41:17
boyfriend and help >> now. Newlywed Shaina is back in [music] court >> and that same disturbing interview with
02:41:27
police remains the strongest evidence against her. >> He's very vain and wants to get a nose
02:41:34
job. just that kind of person. And I shot him right here. I gave him his nose job. He wanted
02:41:41
>> Ryan was very aggressive with her. The defense, led this time by attorney David
02:41:47
Eldridge, is again claiming Ryan was abusive. >> What started out that evening as a
02:41:53
normal evening, ended that night with Mr. Poston being both sexually and physically violent. Eldridge takes the
02:42:01
jury on an X-rated journey to prove his case. >> She could not reach orgasm when they had
02:42:10
sex. It is a constant criticism. Mr. Post. >> Okay. Your next witness called Shane.
02:42:19
>> It's a risky move. >> Ma'am, would you raise your right hand? You saw me swear.
02:42:23
>> But Shaina takes the stand, telling graphic tales of rough sex. And I started
02:42:31
to bleed and it it was painful. >> That sometimes turned kinky against her will.
02:42:39
>> Ryan did something I didn't want him to do. >> How did that experience make you feel?
02:42:47
>> It felt degrading. >> She claims Ryan often [music] humiliated her. and he told me that it was
02:42:54
unattractive that I couldn't orgasm. >> Despite the passage of time, Shaina easily recalls specific dates.
02:43:03
>> It was May of 2011, maybe November the 12th, January of 2012 >> and details of alleged unprovoked abuse
02:43:13
by Ryan. >> I was woken up to him just pushing me out of the bed and he just started
02:43:19
screaming at me. Why would Shaina stay with Ryan? >> Borderline personality disorder is a
02:43:26
chronic long-term condition. >> Defense psychologist Thomas Shocked says she has a personality disorder and PTSD
02:43:35
from childhood sexual abuse, but there are no police reports to support Shaina's claims.
02:43:42
>> Miss Huber's psychological condition was seriously abnormal. Shaina admits she did not handle their
02:43:51
breakups well. >> I would often send him countless text messages. >> Did you ever show up at his condominium
02:43:58
uninvited? >> Yes. >> When she showed up at his condo the night of October 12th, 2012. Shaina
02:44:05
claims Ryan exploded in anger and attacked her. >> He picked me up and threw me from the
02:44:12
doorway of his bedroom into the other room. He screamed at me, "You're a person and you're a person
02:44:23
because you're you were touched when you were a little girl." >> After the fight had moved into the
02:44:29
dining area, Shaina says she was left crying on the floor >> and he was reaching across the table and
02:44:38
I don't know if he was reaching for the gun or reaching for me, but I was still sitting on the floor at this point in
02:44:45
time. and I got up off the floor and I grabbed the gun and I shot him. [music] >> It's not the same story Shaya told when
02:44:56
she called 911 >> and he reached down and grabbed the gun and I grabbed it out of his hand and
02:45:01
pulled the pulled the trigger. >> Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass pounces. >> We need to make sure we get this right.
02:45:10
Your story was different. After all these years, I really don't remember the 911 call.
02:45:15
>> But you remember every other detail, every other detail of relationship that started in 2011.
02:45:22
>> Snodgrass confronts Shaina with other inconsistencies. >> And in fact, you often times described
02:45:30
Ryan to your friends as being calm, didn't you? >> Ryan could be calm at times. >> You told him he was patient and kind.
02:45:41
Ryan was sometimes patient, kind, and nice. Yes. Sometimes he wasn't. >> You want to tell the jury what you told
02:45:47
your friend you about? >> She points out Shaina was a willing participant in the kinky sex.
02:45:53
>> Isn't it true that you told multiple friends, how it was the best sex of your life.
02:46:01
>> I'm sure I said that. >> The way he looked at you was unreal. You said that. >> I'll take your word for it. I don't
02:46:10
remember it, but guess >> I shot him probably six times. >> And Snodgrass reminds Shaina of what she
02:46:16
told police after pumping six bullets into Ryan. >> He was twitching some more. I shot him a
02:46:22
couple more times just to make sure he was dead cuz I didn't want to watch him die.
02:46:28
>> And you told officers that it was too painful for you. >> I said that >> to sit and watch him twitch.
02:46:39
Now, six years later, that story has changed as well. >> I also, when I first shot him, wasn't
02:46:46
sure where the shots had entered or if I had just made him more angry. >> Ladies and gentlemen, the respective
02:46:55
parties have rested their cases. The jury deliberates for nearly five hours and then
02:47:06
>> we the jury find the defendant Shaina Hubers guilty of murder. >> Shaina Hubers is guilty of the murder of
02:47:22
Ryan Poston [music] for a second time. The jury reconvenes the next day to decide on a sentence.
02:47:32
>> Ryan had a heart of gold. He never ever left me without kissing me on the cheek
02:47:39
and telling me he loved me. >> Once again, Ryan's father and sister [music] have to find the words to describe their
02:47:46
loss. >> This is Ryan's shirt on your poster. [clears throat] I'm sorry. unavailable right now. If you can
02:47:56
leave a message and I will call you back as soon as possible. Thank you. [snorts]
02:48:00
>> That's it. That's all we have on voicemail. >> Shaina's devastated mother hopes the
02:48:12
jury will show mercy. My child's life has also been taken. Her family also grieves.
02:48:29
I'm not lessening or taken away from or trying to say that I don't understand the grief of this
02:48:38
family because I do. >> But the defense's bid for leniency fails. We the jury fix the defendant Shauna
02:48:48
Huver's punishment for the offense of murder at life imprisonment. >> A life sentence more than the 40-year
02:48:58
sentence Shaina received at her first trial. >> Ryan's family is relieved. >> This is justice.
02:49:07
>> This is justice from the system. There is never closure. >> There will never be closure. He'll never
02:49:12
walk through that door again. No. >> And they will always wonder about what might have been.
02:49:20
>> I will forever miss the possibilities. We will never know the incredible possibilities that Ryan Poston would
02:49:27
have given to this earth. He was an tremendously gifted young man. [music] Heat. Heat.
02:49:51
[music] [music] [music] >> [music]